DOJ Selects Obama Supporter To Lead IRS Investigation (MSM Yawns)

The IRS scandal blew open, last May, Obama promised a full investigation but as of last month, the DOJ still hadn’t  even contacted any of the 41 conservative groups represented in the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) lawsuit against the IRS. That’s because it has taken until this week – 8 months after Obama’s vow to get to the bottom of what happened, for the DOJ to appoint an attorney to the case.

And as the Washington Times reported in an exclusive, yesterday, (exclusive because the rest of the media is covering the Chris Christie scandal), the attorney Holder appointed has a major conflict of interest, being “an avowed political supporter of the president”.

The Justice Department selected an avowed political supporter of President Obama to lead the criminal probe into the IRS targeting of tea party groups, according to top Republicans who said Wednesday that the move has ruined the entire investigation.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell E. Issa, California Republican, and regulatory affairs subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, said they have discovered that the head of the investigation is Barbara Kay Bosserman, a trial lawyer in the Justice Department who donated more than $6,000 to Mr. Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns, as well as several hundred dollars to the national Democratic Party.

“The department has created a startling conflict of interest,” Mr. Issa and Mr. Jordan said in a letter sent Wednesday and reviewed by The Washington Times. “It is unbelievable that the department would choose such an individual to examine the federal government’s systematic targeting and harassment of organizations opposed to the president’s policies.”

Today, the ACLJ stated that it is “troubling” that the Justice Department tapped a political supporter of President Obama to lead the investigation into the allegations of wrongdoing at the tax agency.

Responding to the Washington Times report, the ACLJ said that “the selection of Barbara Kay Bosserman, a trial lawyer in the Justice Department who has donated money to Mr. Obama’s presidential campaigns, threatens to undercut the integrity of the investigation and raises questions about the administration’s promise to get to the bottom of the IRS scandal.”

“Appointing an avowed political supporter of President Obama to head-up the Justice Department probe is not only disturbing but puts politics right in the middle of what is supposed to be an independent investigation to determine who is responsible for the Obama Administration’s unlawful targeting of conservative and tea party groups because of their political beliefs,” said Jay Sekulow, of the ACLJ. “This development creates a serious conflict of interest and raises more questions and doubts about the Obama Administration’s promise to get to the bottom of what happened — to reveal the facts and the truth about the IRS targeting scheme.”

National Review’s Rich Lowry appeared on Fox, today to talk about the outrage.

Newsbusters reports that there’s Already 17 Times More Coverage on Christie Scandal Than in Last Six Months of IRS.

And so far, the Big Three Networks have Censored the news. 

After months of stonewalling the Justice Department finally named someone to head the investigation into the IRS-Tea Party scandal – and it’s an Obama donor. So far ABC, CBS and NBC have yet to mention what Darrell Issa called “a startling conflict of interest.” In fact the Big Three networks have almost completely stopped covering the IRS scandal investigation altogether.

Since July 1, ABC, CBS and NBC have devoted a total of just 2 minutes and 8 seconds to the IRS imbroglio.

UPDATE:

Wow…another conflict of interest.

The Daily Caller: Democrat U.S. attorney probing Christie fundraised for Hillary Clinton:

The U.S. Attorney investigating the scandal involving Chris Christie’s staffers affecting bridge traffic is a Hillary Clinton fundraiser who would have had his job eight years earlier had he not been passed over for Christie.

New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s office is “reviewing the matter to determine whether a federal law was implicated.”

But Fishman is a registered Democrat who has hosted fundraising events for Hillary Clinton.

 

 

Previously: 

The IRS Continues to Punish Obama’s Enemies (Video)

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Full Chris Christie Presser: ‘Embarrassed and Humiliated,’ Fires Aide, Apologizes for Traffic Jam Scandal

In his hour long press conference, this morning, New Jersey Governor  Christie expressed more sadness than anger that  his deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly had lied to him about the bridge closure, which allowed him to go out and give false denials to the public. Christie said he had fired Kelly, and told “Bill Stepien, his 2013 campaign manager, not to apply to become state party chairman or to work with the Republican Governors Association, which Christie is taking over.”

Jim Geraghty puts his finger on the most troubling aspect of this.

Large stretches of Christie’s press conference made for a textbook example of authentic, emphatic expressions of contrition, including a raw, refreshing bluntness about his long ties to the aides in question, and direct, quick action to ensure consequences for wrongdoing. But there was a somewhat troubling aspect in that Christie remained to insist that not one but several members of his team behaved in reprehensible manner, abused the state’s authority, and were willing to lie to him about it. He may not have known about their actions, and may have been left in the dark the whole time… but he apparently has terrible judgment in who he hires and trusts.

My own feeling on this is that Christie will come out of it okay, if the investigation shows that he had no part in it. But that remains to be seen.

The transcript from the Press conference is here.

Slain Officer’s Widow: Obama’s Nomination of Cop-Killer Mumia’s Attorney “Like Spitting On All Our Officers”

Obama has sppointed some shockingly inept and/or radical individuals to positions of power, these past five years, but his pick be the nation’s top civil rights lawyer is his worst appointment, yet.  

Adegbilem spent the last decade serving as the Legal Defense and Education Fund of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

He is a staunch affirmative action supporter who is an opponent of criminal-background checks by employers, and a supporter of extreme racial-hiring quotas. But it’s his work trying to free the unrepentant cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, that has the hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officers represented by the National Fraternal Order of Police appalled that the president would appoint him to a top spot in the Justice Department.

Yesterday, they sent  a hard-hitting letter to Obama,  expressing “extreme disappointment, displeasure and vehement opposition” to Adegbile’s nomination.

 Judicial Watch reported:

In a hard-hitting letter to President Obama, the group expresses “extreme disappointment, displeasure and vehement opposition” to Adegbile’s nomination. “As word of this nomination spreads through the law enforcement community, reactions range from anger to incredulity,” the letter says, reminding that there is no disputing that Officer Faulkner was murdered by the “thug” who Adegbile continues defending.

“This nomination can be interpreted in only one way: it is a thumb in the eye of our nation’s law enforcement officers,” the letter continues. “It demonstrates a total lack of regard or empathy for those who strive to keep you and everyone else in our nation safe in your homes and neighborhoods—sometimes giving their lives in the effort.” Adegbile will certainly exacerbate the growing division and distrust between law enforcement and minority communities, the FOP claims. The group ends by telling the commander-in-chief of its hope that candidates with records of “fairness and respect to all Americans” are considered for future leadership positions in the administration.

Fox New’s Megyn Kelly had on Maureen Faulker (Wife of slain police officer killed in line of duty) and J. Christian Adams (Former Department of Justice Official) to get their reactions.

Adams said that “to defend a cop killer –  by choice – should disqualify you from a position at the Justice Department”, and then he went on to discuss Adegbilem’s  radical racial background.

Faulkner was positively seething. At the end of the segment, she said that Obama nominating such a person to a top position at the Justice Department “is like spitting on all our officers and our federal agents throughout America.”

Kelly ended the segment by noting that the police have vowed to fight this nomination until can be fought no longer.

The NAACP LDF under Adegbile’s leadership, offered legal representation to Mumia Abu-Jamal, the murderer of Philadelphia police officer Danny Faulkner in several legal proceedings.

 Born Wesley Cook, the former Black Panther often referred to affectionately in radical circles as simply “Mumia,” enjoys celebrity status on the Left and is a frequent guest speaker at college commencement ceremonies.

 “The question of Abu-Jamal’s guilt is not a close call,” according to John Fund. “Two hospital workers testified that Abu-Jamal confessed to them: ‘I shot the motherf***er, and I hope the motherf***er dies.’ His brother, William, has never testified to his brother’s innocence even though he was at the scene of the crime. Abu-Jamal himself chose not to testify in his own defense.”

 As Faulkner tried to arrest Abu-Jamal’s brother during a traffic stop, Abu-Jamal shot the policeman once in the back and then stood over him and shot him four more times at close range, once directly in the face. Multiple eyewitnesses were present during the crime.

Issa warns Sebelius of Possible Perjury Charges Over False Obamacare Testimony

Image via Fox Nation

Wednesday, in a letter sent to HHS Kathleen Sebelius, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., suggested the secretary may have perjured herself when she appeared before Congress. He pressed for an explanation for the false and misleading statements she made about the security risks present on HealthCare.gov  and  requested the documents and communications that were made in preparation for Sebelius’s congressional appearances after October 1, 2013.

“Providing false or misleading testimony to Congress is a serious matter,” Issa wrote. “Documents and testimony obtained by the Committee, including information provided by Teresa Fryer, the Chief Information Security Officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the MITRE Corporation, a contractor hired by HHS to conduct security assessments of healthcare.gov, show that your testimony was false and misleading.”

The letter cites four examples of false statements Sebelius made before Congress:

1) that MITRE was conducting ongoing security testing

2) that MITRE’s preliminary report “did not raise flags about going ahead”

3) that “no one… suggested that the risks outweighed the importance of moving forward”

4) that MITRE made recommendations to CMS about moving forward.

“Although the four examples of misinformation and falsehoods from your Congressional testimony late last year are extremely troubling,” Issa wrotes, “your failure during numerous Congressional hearings to explicitly mention the serious problems with security testing in the month prior to launch creates the appearance that you carefully chose language that would mislead Members of Congress and the American public.”

You can read the complete letter to Secretary Sebelius here.

Hat tip White House Dossier.

Linked by Doug Ross, thanks!