The internal IG timeline shows a unit in the agency was looking at Tea Party and "patriot" groups dating back to early 2010. But it shows that list of criteria drastically expanding by the time a June 2011 briefing was held. It then included groups focused on government spending, government debt, taxes, and education on ways to "make America a better place to live." It even flagged groups whose file included criticism of "how the country is being run."Broader would be better if it meant that liberal and lefty groups were included, but I'm not seeing that.
UPDATE: Obama, this morning: "If in fact IRS personnel engaged in the kind of practices that have been reported on and were intentionally targeting conservative groups, then that's outrageous and there's no place for it -- and they have to be held fully accountable."
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224 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 224 of 224There is no evidence Greenpeace was targeted for political purposes.
None. Zero. And no sane person believes as such.
garage goes all hysterical on the FBI.
The relevant OIG Report, not news accounts of it, not out-of-context assertions about what was said to Congress, but the actual report concludes nobody was targeted based on their first amendment activities.
garage is a useful idiot.
Notice the dishonesty here (which is why no link was offered):
Check 12:21, liar. Or clueless? Always hard to tell.
garage mahal said...
Check 12:21, liar
Your first post on the FBI bullshit assertions contained no link.
There is a reason for that because the OIG report obliterates your dumbass shit.
See pages 138 and 190 of the report, for example
Oh wait, garage doesn't read actual reports. He reads left wing blogs which summarize them to fit his world view.
Never mind.
Uh-oh:
An attorney for a Tea Party group that believes the IRS targeted it for special scrutiny while applying for nonprofit status said an IRS analyst told him over a year ago that the agency had a “secret working group” devoted to investigating conservative organizations.
Attorney Dan Backer, whose client TheTeaParty.net has been trying to obtain tax-exempt status since 2010, said an IRS analyst mentioned the alleged working group during a phone conversation about one of Backer’s other client organizations.
“More than a year ago, one of these guys, really a slip of the tongue, [said] ‘Yeah we have this new working group that’s really looking at all these conservative organizations,’” Backer said. “And that’s when we knew it was gonna be a problem.”
Isn't that nice?
Your first post on the FBI bullshit assertions contained no link.
Here it is again for you:
The report concluded that, while the FBI probes were not generally predicated simply on the views of the targets, at least one FBI field office was focused on a group “as a result of its anti-war views.”It also found that “FBI agents and supervisors sometimes provided the [Office of the Inspector General] with speculative, after-the-fact rationalizations for their prior decisions to open investigations that we did not find persuasive.” Link
To recap:
Yes the FBI under Bush surveilled lefty peace groups.
Yes they did it [in at least one case] for their anti-war views
And they lied to Congress about it.
Here it is again for you:
You keep linking to a left wing blog and I am linking to the actual report.
Want to guess why that is?
while the FBI probes were not generally predicated simply on the views of the targets, at least one FBI field office was focused on a group “as a result of its anti-war views.”
Really? Which field office, which group?
What page of the OIG report is this on?
hat “FBI agents and supervisors sometimes provided the [Office of the Inspector General] with speculative, after-the-fact rationalizations for their prior decisions to open investigations that we did not find persuasive
What page of the OIG report is this on?
From the report page 138:
"Based on our review of the case file as a whole and our interview of the FBI Special Agent and the Assistant United States Attorney assigned to this matter, we did not conclude that the FBI's Dallas Field Division targeted Greenpeace or its members solely on the basis of their First Amendment activities."
hmmmm.
From the Report, page 190: "In sum, the evidence in our review did not indicate that that the FBI targeted any of the groups for investigation on the basis of their First Amendment activities."
Hmmmm.
Garage: "Yes they did it [in at least one case] for their anti-war views."
No, they did not.
According to your very own linked report.
LOL
But of course, you didn't take the time to read the report, did you?
You simply accepted, at face value, what the crazy lefties on a few far left websites claimed.
Pitch perfect.
What percent of the links garage provides in support of his dubious claims actually disprove his assertions?
LOL
I'm guessing somewhere north of 98% (since I'm assuming he might post a few sports related items here and there).
at least one FBI field office was focused on a group “as a result of its anti-war views.”
Page 60, OIG Report:
we found no evidence Berry was sent to the event to monitor the first amendment activities of the Merton center or anyone else because of their anti-war activities. We found no evidence the FBI ever opened any kind of investigation in which the Merton center was named a subject. We also found no evidence that the FBI's attendance was part of any unofficial investigation of anti-war activity in Pittsburgh or that the FBI was focusing on the Merton Center or others because of their anti-war views
Garage believes in easily debunked lies.
again, garage is a useful idiot.
bpm4532 said...
Perhaps the citizen making the complaint lived at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C.? I mean, he's a citizen too. He can make a complaint like every other citizen.
Where's Mick when you need him?
What percent of the links garage provides in support of his dubious claims actually disprove his assertions?
We are quickly approaching 99.4% Drago.
The other .06% are never relevant to his claims...
Jay: "again, garage is a useful idiot"
Don't you think the term "useful" is a bridge too far as regards garages "usefulness"?
I mean, he certainly shows up. He certainly is willing to be cannon fodder for the Marxist left.
But "useful"?
Not so much.
Yes they did it [in at least one case] for their anti-war views
Um, no they didn't and no matter how many times you re-link to that silly left-wing blog, it won't be true.
Point to the page in the OIG report supporting your dummy assertion or shut up.
Page 60 & 61 of that OIG report are just devastating to garage's absurd lies.
Drago - I agree, he can't even qualify for "useful"
Such a shame!
Ouch!
From page 60 of the Report that garage provided indirect links to:
"Although we found no corroboration for the notion that terrorism subjects would be present at the event, we also found no evidence that Berry was sent to the event to monitor the First Amendment activities of the Merton Center or anyone else because of their anti-war activities."
Double ouch!!
I feel a garage "quadruple squirrel!!!" coming on....
So this Report is the only basis for garages non-stop pushing of the "Bush had the FBI spy on the innocent left-wingers" gambit in the face of Obama's clear line of BS today about how the IRS activities of THE LAST 3 YEARS are simply "unacceptable"?
LOL
Dear Ann, do you really think Obama means to hold anyone "responsible"? It was at his orders - witness the revelations of the Koch brothers tax returns. Do you think that fell out of the sky into the Oval Office?
JW: "It was at his orders - witness the revelations of the Koch brothers tax returns. Do you think that fell out of the sky into the Oval Office?"
Obama doesn't have to bother with those "messy" orders.
As Mickey Kaus pointed out today, the leftists in gov't don't require direct orders to engage in behavior beyond the pale in support of their cult-leaders.
Yes the FBI under Bush surveilled lefty peace groups.
Like the ones who planned to bomb the Republican National Convention?
Garage seems to think we're all in love with the totality of the Bush Administration and the expansion of government powers under him.
What this exactly has to do with the current IRS situation I have no idea ...
As Mickey Kaus pointed out today, the leftists in gov't don't require direct orders to engage in behavior beyond the pale in support of their cult-leaders.
Coincidentally like all these jihadi freelancers we've been hearing so much about lately.
I think it is time to bring out the firing squads. traitors deserve no more than that.
Garage, your argument is absurd. If your point is correct, which given the counter posts and actual reports is dubious, then the obvious answer is the governments power needs to be reigned in.
The people wasting their time responding to his stupid squirrel posts should realize the they did it too argument just drags you down with the leftists and their amoral power at all costs worldview. They want the government to abuse it's power.
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