In that now infamous interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly back in February, President Obama brushed aside growing concern about the IRS targeting scandal, going so far as to say there wasn’t even “a smidgen of corruption” to be uncovered.
However, it now appears the corrupt and cozy relationship between the Internal Revenue Service and the Obama White House may have been even more extensive than anyone suspected.
The Inspector General of the Treasury Department has reportedly found that thousands of documents containing confidential taxpayer information may have been shared with the White House by cooperating officials at the IRS.
This reported passing of information that should have been kept secret by the Internal Revenue Service — something conservative groups and lawmakers have long suspected — may well have been not only inappropriate but also possibly illegal.
Numerous organizations and individuals claimed that the Obama administration used the IRS as a political weapon in an attempt to harass and intimidate them.
As the Washington Examiner reports:
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In a shocking revelation, the Treasury Inspector General has identified some 2,500 documents that “potentially” show taxpayer information held by the Internal Revenue Service being shared with President Obama’s White House.
The discovery was revealed to the group Cause of Action, which has sued for access to any of the documents. It charges that the IRS and White House have harassed taxpayers.
The post at washingtonexaminer.com goes on to note that the discovery of this vast number of possibly shared documents suggests that the White House was hip deep in probes of conservative and Tea Party groups at the heart of the long-simmering IRS targeting scandal.
The executive director of Cause of Action — the organization that pried loose these 2,500 potentially incriminating documents — said of their pursuit of the possible IRS-White House collusion:
“The court has ruled that the federal government cannot hide behind confidentiality laws to prevent Americans from knowing if our President has gained unauthorized access to their tax information.
This is a decisive win for all Americans and for government transparency and accountability.”
This disclosure follows the recovery of 30,000 “lost” emails from former IRS executive Lois Lerner, the central figure in the scandal who has refused to testify before Congress.