Double Whammy: GOP
Demands IRS Special Counsel
by Matthew Boyle 2 May 2014
Not only are House Republicans
forming a select committee to investigate Benghazi,
there is now a concerted push from top GOP officials for the appointment of a special counsel on the IRS scandal.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) introduced
the IRS scandal special counsel resolution on Friday. Jordan’s resolution calls on
Attorney General Eric Holder to
appoint an independent counsel to investigate the IRS scandal, rather than the
current Department of Justice attorney investigating. The current DOJ
investigator donated thousands of dollars to President Obama’s re-election
campaign and to the Democratic National Committee.
In a statement announcing his
resolution’s introduction, Jordan
said:
We need this Special Counsel to
help us get to the truth because the so-called investigation by the Justice
Department has been a joke. The current investigation has no credibility
because it is being headed by a maxed-out donor who is financially invested in
the President’s success. The Attorney General says he won’t share any information
with Congress about the investigation, but looked the other way when
information was leaked to the media signaling that no one would face criminal
charges. This resolution calls for a real investigation by an unbiased
investigator to get to the truth and hold those responsible for this illegal
targeting accountable for their actions.
Jordan has several high-profile cosponsors out the gate,
including three key chairmen: House Oversight Committee chairman Rep. Darrell
Issa (R-CA), Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), and Ways
and Means Committee chairman Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI). The other three original
cosponsors—Reps. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Charles Boustany
(R-LA)—are also key players in House oversight efforts. Issa made the case:
Congressional investigations into
the IRS targeting scandal have uncovered evidence of serious criminal activity,
which must be resolved aording to the law. Unfortunately, the Department of
Justice’s current investigation has lost credibility and public confidence.
Appointing a Special Counsel is a necessary step to restore impartiality to a
case that requires it. The person Attorney General Holder appoints must be
someone beyond the Administration’s own political circle, whose professional
independence and political disinterest is beyond reproach.
Gowdy added that the law is clear:
there should be a special counsel. “Current law provides Special Counsel should
be appointed in extraordinary cases where it serves the public interest,” Gowdy
said. “I cannot think of anything more extraordinary than targeting Americans simply
for having a certain ideology, and it is most assuredly in the public interest
to protect our freedom of speech.”
Goodlatte said the current DOJ
investigation has been “undermined” because the lead is an Obama and Democrat
donor.
These actions have created a
conflict of interest which has undermined both the integrity of the
investigation and the American people’s confidence in the Justice Department’s
ability to get to the bottom of this scandal without spinning or covering up
the facts. To restore Americans’ trust in the investigation and hold those
accountable for targeting Americans for their political beliefs, Attorney
General Holder should immediately appoint an independent Special Counsel to
probe this unsettling issue.
Camp added that he is worried, if
an independent counsel is not appointed, that Lois Lerner and the IRS will get
away with their malfeasance. "I have serious concerns that the Department
of Justice has brushed aside this investigation and will not pursue Lerner for the
wrongdoing she committed,” Camp said. “Therefore, DOJ must appoint a Special
Counsel, so we can have an independent review of what really happened at the
IRS.”
Majority Leader Eric Cantor promised a vote on the
resolution next week. "This is far too serious a matter to leave to the
discretion of partisan political appointees no matter who is in the White
House," Cantor said.
Special
Boehner Finally
Caves, Will Appoint Special Committee (Past
Research)
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Note: Elizabeth Warren
was a special
adviser to the secretary at the U.S.
Department of the Treasury, and the assistant to the president for the Barack Obama administration.
Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) is a
division of the U.S. Department of the
Treasury.
Alan
F. Holmer was a special envoy to China for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and a partner at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama
was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
James D.
Zirin is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and was a director
at the Human Rights First.
Kenneth
R. Feinberg is a director at Human Rights First, and was a special master for the September 11th Victim
Compensation Fund of 2001.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for Human Rights First, and the
Aspen Institute (think tank).
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and is the
founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank).
Henrietta
Holsman Fore is a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), and a member of the Belizean Grove.
Deborah L.
Wince-Smith is a member of the Belizean
Grove, and was a member of the IRS
Oversight Board.
Nancy
Killefer was a member of the IRS
Oversight Board, the assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the nominee for chief
performance officer for the Barack Obama
administration.
IRS Oversight
Board is a citizen’s board for the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS).
Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) is a
division of the U.S. Department of the
Treasury.
Charles O.
Rossotti was a commissioner for the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS), and is a
director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), and American
Constitution Society.
George Soros
is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a board
member for the International Crisis Group, and was the chairman for the Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution
(think tank), the Aspen Institute (think tank), and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund.
Thomas
R. Pickering is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States
(think tank), a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution (think
tank), a co-chair for the International Crisis Group, was a lifetime
trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), the under secretary for the U.S. Department of State, a
U.S. ambassador for the United Nations, and the chairman of review board
that investigated the 2012 attack on U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in
2013.
Mariano-Florentino
Cuellar is a director at the American Constitution Society, and was
a special assistant to the president
for the Barack Obama administration.
Eric H. Holder Jr.
was a board member for the American Constitution Society, an intern at
the NAACP Legal Defense &
Educational Fund, and is the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration.
Beth A. Wilkinson
was a special
attorney at the U.S. Department of
Justice, and is a partner at Paul,
Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
Elena
Kagan was a summer associate at Paul,
Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and the solicitor general for the Barack Obama administration.
Warren
B. Rudman was of counsel at Paul,
Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
David M.
Rubenstein was a partner at Paul,
Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and a benefactor at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
Henrietta
Holsman Fore is a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), and a member of the Belizean Grove.
Deborah L.
Wince-Smith is a member of the Belizean
Grove, and was a member of the IRS
Oversight Board.
Nancy
Killefer was a member of the IRS
Oversight Board, the assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the nominee for chief
performance officer for the Barack Obama
administration.
IRS Oversight
Board is a citizen’s board for the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS).
Internal
Revenue Service (IRS) is a
division of the U.S. Department of the
Treasury.
Charles O.
Rossotti was a commissioner for the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS), is a
director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and
a director at the Booz Allen Hamilton.
R. James Woolsey
is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), was
a VP for Booz Allen Hamilton, and an
advisory board member for the Jewish
Institute for National Security Affairs.
Eric
I. Cantor is an advisory board member for the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, and the Majority Leader.
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