Not a smidgen of credibility in Obama's IRS claim

Not a smidgen of credibility in Obama's IRS claim

By Andrew Malcolm
Posted 02/07/2014

According to the president of the United States, the IRS scandal over agents targeting conservative groups is merely the result of "bone-headed decisions" by a few confused employees.

Additionally, Barack Obama assured Bill O'Reilly, there is not a "smidgen" of corruption involved in a once-trusted federal agency intimidating the Chicagoan's political opponents.

Wait! Remember when this scandal broke last May, a president looking much like Barack Obama was so totally publicly outraged over this violation of government trust that he fired the IRS' acting commissioner?

Yet now, it's all simply an unfortunate few instances of bone-headeded-ness that just happened to prevent dozens of groups opposed to Obama from participating in the 2012 election campaign.

But wait once more! There are currently six (6!) separate investigations of this scandal underway. The two by the Obama administration are classic Chicago shams, Obama cronies investigating Obama cronies. But none of these probes (0!) is complete.

So, how could this president know with such certainty that there was no corruption? Not even a whiff? And, anyway, why is a president, who used to be a lawyer, commenting on an ongoing criminal investigation? Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Oh, and did you hear about related House testimony on the issue Thursday afternoon?

Catherine Engelbrecht and her family run a small oil-field machinery business in Texas. In 2009, after spotting numerous instances of alleged voter fraud as a poll-watcher, she founded a couple of conservative political groups, the King Street Patriots and True the Vote.

In mid-2010 she applied to the IRS for nonprofit status. Here's her testimony Thursday under questioning from Ohio Republican Jim Jordan of the House Oversight Committee:

"Ms. Engelbrecht, in the first 20 years of business, did OSHA ever visit your place of business?”

“No sir.”

“Never once?”

“No sir.”

“After you filed the [tax-exempt application for King Street Patriots], OSHA visited then, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“In the first 20 years of business did the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms] ever come to your business?”

“No sir.”

“And they came a couple times once you filed your application?”

“Yes sir.”

“And in your first 20 years of business, did the IRS ever audit you?”

“No sir.”

“But once you filed your application, they audited you?”

“Many times.”

“And in your first 20 years of business, did the FBI ever visit you?”

“No sir.”

“But once you filed your application, did they visit you?”

“Six times.”

Coincidentally, those are just the kinds of intimidating serial coincidences that happen all the time in Chicago to opponents of the Democrat political machine. What are the odds of that, do you think?