Since July 2010, when Catherine Engelbrecht applied to the IRS for tax-exempt status, she has received multiple inquiries from the IRS about the entities that applied for tax-exempt status.[1] Fair enough, the IRS has a job to do. However, the IRS then proceeded to audit both the business and personal income tax returns of Mrs. Engelbrecht. Again, the IRS has a job to do, and audits are an important tool in administering our tax laws. Just a coincidence, perhaps. Even if conservative groups were targeted, it would be only outrageous, if they were targeted for political reasons.
In this case, however, the targeting appears to extend far beyond the IRS. Since she applied for tax-exempt status, Mrs. Engelbrecht or her businesses have received six inquiries from the FBI, two audits from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (“ATF”), and an audit from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”). OK, the ATF and the IRS are both part of the Treasury Department, so it appears that there may have been some coordination between the bureaus within the Treasury Department.
However, the FBI resides within the Department of Justice, and OSHA resides within the Department of Labor. So now it appears that the IRS disclosed information resulting from an application for tax-exempt status not only to higher-ups within the Treasury Department, but also to other agencies in the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor. It defies credulity that these were random acts of governmental intrusion without input and coordination from senior levels within the Obama Administration.
We will find out who was coordinating the sharing of sensitive tax information among the various agencies of the federal government and why they pursued the actions they did. When we do, the results will not be pretty. It may not result in the impeachment of President Obama, but it will render the remainder of his second term, essentially impotent.
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