Jeanne Shaheen named in Senate Ethics Complaint.
WSJ- Congress Abetted the IRS Targeting of Conservatives.
On Monday the Center for Competitive Politics filed a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics against nine U.S. senators: for interfering with IRS tax proceedings; for misusing official resources for campaign purposes; and for improper conduct that reflects poorly upon the Senate. Attempting to use the IRS to advance a partisan, electoral agenda is a fundamental assault on good government. We believe these elected officials have staged such an assault.
The timeline goes something like this. Disclose act – failed. Disclose act – failed. Letters to the IRS…
Pressure on the IRS increased after the 2010 midterm Republican landslide. Mr. Schumer stated in one speech, “It’s clear we’re not going to pass anything legislatively,” due to “Republican control” of the House. “But there are many things that can be done by the IRS . . . and we have to redouble our efforts. We have not worked hard enough on this.” In a letter to the IRS on March 12, 2012, Mr. Schumer urged the service to investigate various groups identified through reference to news articles.
Michigan Sen. Carl Levin wrote at least seven letters to the IRS, and demanded that it investigate specific nonprofits. The IRS’s failure to launch these investigations, he wrote in one, was “unacceptable.” Mr. Levin also sought confidential nonprofit tax return information from the IRS, even after being warned, repeatedly, by IRS Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement Steven T. Miller, that such information could not be legally divulged.
Senator Shaheen was a supporter of the discolse act and signed letters to the IRS encouraging them to investigate groups. The IR repsonse has been well documented. The IRS held up large numbers of conservative and TEA party groups applications, shared infomration with left wing activist groups, while some applicants found themselves subject to audits and multiple agency investigations.
The other six senators named in the complaint are Michael Bennet (D., Colo.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.), Al Franken (D., Minn.), Jeanne Shaheen (D., N.H.), Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.) and Tom Udall (D., N.M.). Under the Senate Ethics Committee rules, when such a complaint is received—including by private individuals—”The Committee shall promptly commence a preliminary inquiry . . . of such duration and scope as is necessary” to find whether ethics rules were violated.
