Issa: Holder aide caught red-handed

[UncleBeer 244]

OK kids: when you're a DOJ official colluding to inhibit Congressional oversight investigations, it pays to dial carefully.

The administration official calling House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) office last week had an odd request.

Could the Justice Department get some help leaking information about the IRS’s scrutiny of conservative groups? asked Brian Fallon, a top spokesman for Attorney General Eric Holder.

Apparently thinking he had reached the office of Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), Fallon said the department wanted congressional staffers to get documents to selected reporters so that officials could comment on them “before the majority” did.

After Issa spokesman Frederick Hill replied that Oversight Committee staffers would have to examine those documents first, the line went silent, and Fallon placed the call on hold for three minutes.

When he returned to the line, Fallon was “audibly shaken,” according to an account of the conversation that Issa recounts in a letter sent to Holder.

The Justice official then said there had been a “change in plans,” that no documents would be released on Friday and that the main reason for the call was to seek a thaw in relations between the department and Oversight Republicans.

Issa said it’s clear that the Justice official meant to call Democratic staff and argued the mix-up is proof that President Obama’s administration and Cummings have been collaborating to “prejudice the committee’s work through under-the-table coordination.”

[LibCampFireClub 635]

Phony scandal. There ain't no 'there' there.

[lostinblue 1,989]

You have to keep peeling back the onion.Was the ..DOJ involved in this from day one. ??? Keep peeling.

[Pooky 3,805]

As I have said before, there really doesn't need to be an original scandal any more (but I'm not suggesting there isn't one).

No, the convoluted, ham-fisted, inept and dishonest machinations that characterize the efforts to obfuscate the issue before the Congressional Oversight Committee are enough of a scandal in themselves.

[UncleBeer 244]

As I have said before, there really doesn't need to be an original scandal any more (but I'm not suggesting there isn't one).

No, the convoluted, ham-fisted, inept and dishonest machinations that characterize the efforts to obfuscate the issue before the Congressional Oversight Committee are enough of a scandal in themselves.

Agreed, but considering the gargantuan effort being made by the administration to delay and obstruct as much as possible, it's worth following the trail back to wherever it leads. It looks hugely suspicious, at least to everyone besides Democrats and media (but I repeat myself).

[GandD 5,966]

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[UncleBeer 244]

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Oh gawd: you're a mod now.

[Darnell 8,478]

ssssssssssssssshush... he finished his week o training and this is his first day actually doing real work. give him a break, he's gonna make a few blunders this weekend.

[UncleBeer 244]

he's gonna make a few blunders this weekend.

So I've seen.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Issa feel lonely in that empty evidence room, doesn't he?

[Pooky 3,805]

Issa feel lonely in that empty evidence room, doesn't he?

The irony is that there doesn't even need to be an original scandal at this point (not saying there isn't, though ). The inept efforts to cover up the "non-scandal" are enough of a scandal in themselves.

[UncleBeer 244]

As was said during the Watergate era: It's not the crime that'll get ya, it's the coverup.

[UncleBeer 244]

Well, well. It seems that Breitbart, the conservative media outlet that originally broke this story is now being audited by the IRS.

The company that runs the conservative Breitbart.com news site says the IRS has selected the network for an audit, in a move company executives suggest is politically motivated.

The IRS asked for a litany of documents, including logs of its receipts and expenses, but also its partnership agreement and a “written narrative” of the business.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, raised "deep concern" about the audit in a letter sent Tuesday to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

In the letter, he called the inquiry a "far-reaching, burdensome, and open-ended audit," and asked for details about any audits of other news organizations.

Don't forget: the preznit 'joked' about having the IRS audit his enemies back in 2009.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Yeah, that's what Breitbart and Co. said about D'Souza - who has just plead guilty to the offense for which he was investigated.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/03/us-usa-politics-dsouza-idUSKBN0GY2EW20140903