White House and IRS Pass Around Private Taxpayer Info

A report in The Daily Caller should scare each and every taxpayer. An investigation by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee found that IRS officials Sarah Hall Ingram and Lois Lerner emailed confidential taxpayer information to the White House.

This is the IRS that has persecuted Tea Party groups and it appears the illegal interactions between the IRS and White House had to do with challenges to Obamacare by religious organizations.

Top Internal Revenue Service Obamacare official Sarah Hall Ingram discussed confidential taxpayer information with senior Obama White House officials, according to 2012 emails obtained by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and provided to The Daily Caller.

Lois Lerner, then head of the IRS Tax Exempt Organizations division, also received an email alongside White House officials that contained confidential information.

Ingram attempted to counsel the White House on a lawsuit from religious organizations opposing Obamacare’s contraception mandate. Email exchanges involving Ingram and White House officials — including White House health policy advisor Ellen Montz and deputy assistant to the president for health policy Jeanne Lambrew — contained confidential taxpayer information, according to Oversight.

But I’m sure it was completely fair and had nothing to do with persecuting conservatives.

Many religious organizations have challenged Obamacare on the ground that portions of the law clash with the Constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion.  These battles could set incredible precedent and heavily damage the President’s signature law when ultimately decided by the Supreme Court.

In a flood of lawsuits, Roman Catholics, evangelicals and Mennonites are challenging a provision in the new health care law that requires employers to cover birth control in employee health plans — a high-stakes clash between religious freedom and health care access that appears headed to the Supreme Court.

In recent months, federal courts have seen dozens of lawsuits brought not only by religious institutions like Catholic dioceses but also by private employers ranging from a pizza mogul to produce transporters who say the government is forcing them to violate core tenets of their faith. Some have been turned away by judges convinced that access to contraception is a vital health need and a compelling state interest. Others have been told that their beliefs appear to outweigh any state interest and that they may hold off complying with the law until their cases have been judged. New suits are filed nearly weekly.

According to U.S. Federal Law, “Federal employees who illegally disclose confidential taxpayer information could face five years in prison.” Somehow I think the Eric Holder Justice Department will fail to bring charges against IRS officials within the Obama Administration for clearly breaking the law.

For a bit of reference, Sarah Hall Ingram headed the IRS division responsible for persecution of Tea Party groups. Some people have claimed that they have been harassed or audited by the IRS after their criticism of President Obama or because of their affiliation with anti-Obama organizations.

 

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This administration has continued to show their complete disrespect for the law, only enforcing it when it is politically advantageous and using it as a means to persecute political opponents. With the incredible power handed to the IRS as part of Obamacare, unfortunately, we should only expect that to continue.