Just days after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder declined to appoint a special prosecutor by insisting that it wasn't necessary since "career people" and FBI agents were "doing a good, professional job" of investigating the IRS scandal involving improper scrutiny of conservative-leaning non-profits, an exclusive by Independent Journal Review's Larry O' Connor has revealed that the group at the center of the IRS scandal has never been interviewed about the matter.
The startling revelation was confirmed by Catherine Engelbrecht, president of True The Vote, the highest profile organization targeted by the IRS scandal, which has accused former IRS official Lois Lerner of processing Tea Party and conservative groups' for tax exempt status in an unfair manner before the 2010 and 2012 elections, including the IRS who improperly delayed dozens of applications for years, according to an internal audit by the agency's inspector general.
During an interview with Engelbrecht on WMAL radio in Washington, D.C., on Monday morning, Connor brought up Holder's comments over the weekend to ABC News and questioned her involvement with the FBI and the DOJ's professionalism in investigating the IRS scandal. "That would be exactly 'no.' Zero. At no time have they approached us. Only when they are investigating us. Only when they are being adversarial towards us do we ever hear anything from the Department of Justice. There has been no outreach to try and get to the bottom of the scandal at any time," she revealed.
With "the inappropriate and potentially illegal tactics used by the IRS in refusing to grant conservative groups a 501(c) 4 non-profit status because of their perceived political leanings," it is highly questionable how a significant group in the case such as True The Vote has still not been properly interviewed, especially when they have been embroiled in much of the testimony and investigation in the House Oversight Committee, "including an episode where Lois Lerner fed tax information to that committee's ranking Democrat, Elijah Cummings' office, according to IJR.
Lerner's email exchange was reported by Townhall's Katie Pavlich in April. "New IRS emails released by the House Oversight Committee show staff working for Democratic Ranking Member Elijah Cummings communicated with the IRS multiple times between 2012 and 2013 about voter fraud prevention group True the Vote. True the Vote was targeted by the IRS after applying for tax exempt status more than two years ago. Further, information shows the IRS and Cummings' staff asked for nearly identical information from True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht about her organization, indicating coordination and improper sharing of confidential taxpayer information."
"Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa, along with five Subcommittee Chairmen are demanding Cummings provide an explanation for the staff inquiries to the IRS about True the Vote and for his denial that his staff ever contacted the IRS about the group," the report added.
"Although you have previously denied that your staff made inquiries to the IRS about conservative organization True the Vote that may have led to additional agency scrutiny, communication records between your staff and IRS officials - which you did not disclose to Majority Members or staff - indicates otherwise," the letter to Cummings states. "As the Committee is scheduled to consider a resolution holding Ms. Lerner, a participant in responding to your communications that you failed to disclose, in contempt of Congress, you have an obligation to fully explain your staff's undisclosed contacts with the IRS."
Meanwhile, the IRS scandal, which currently includes investigation of missing e-mails, broken hard drives and Lerner pleading the 5th amendment, most definitely will call into question how seriously Holder is taking the investigation, which has up till now failed to interview or contact Engelbrecht's organization in the 15 months since the scandal first broke.
