I'm Shocked, Shocked

that the IRS has decided to audit Breitbart News

The company that runs the conservative Breitbart.com news site says the IRS has selected the network for an audit, in a move company executives suggest is politically motivated.

Breitbart News Network, a California-based company which runs several conservative websites, says the IRS recently audited its 2012 financial information.

"The Obama administration's timing on this is exquisite, but try as they might through various methods to silence us, we will only get more emboldened,” Stephen K. Bannon, executive chairman of Breitbart News Network, said in a written statement.

The audit comes as the agency faces sustained complaints that it targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny as they sought nonprofit status, before the agency ended the practice last year.

Breitbart should start the process of discovery to find out which democratic congressman demanded their audit. I wonder how many hard drives can be made to explode.

Since the practice was made public – by the IRS itself and the inspector general’s office – other conservative groups have come forward claiming they were subjected to unwarranted scrutiny by the agency.

In this case, it remains unclear whether the apparent audit of Breitbart News is anything out of the ordinary. The IRS conducts audits of tens of thousands of businesses every year.

The agency said in a statement: "Federal privacy laws prohibit the IRS from commenting on specific taxpayer situations. The IRS stresses that audits are based on the information related to tax returns and the underlying tax law -- nothing else. Audits are handled by career, non-partisan civil servants, and the IRS has safeguards in place to protect the exam process."

Lois Lerner was not available for comment.



Speaking of the IRS, it seems that one of the career, non-partisan civil servants was caught with his pants down trying to arrange a favorable leak from a democratic politician: DOJ spokesman caught trying to work with Dems on IRS probe coverage, Issa says

A Justice Department spokesman apparently accidentally called the office of House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa last week and, according to Issa, asked to release documents about the IRS targeting scandal to “interested reporters” before Issa had the chance to share them.

Then the “audibly shaken” spokesman seemed to realize what he had done and tried to back off his request, the California Republican congressman said.

Issa detailed the staffer’s awkward mistake in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday, saying he had “serious concerns” about the incident. The letter was first reported by Breitbart News. Issa, whose committee is investigating the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups, said it was clear the spokesman was attempting to reach the office of Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking member on the committee. Issa said he believes this sort of collaboration happens regularly.

But I'm quite sure the DOJ investigation of the IRS targeting will be fair and nopartisan.

From today's "Live at Five: 09.10.14" by Wombat-socho at The Other McCain.