Yesterday, the Washington Times reported that the IRS revealed an extensive list of tea party groups that the organization flagged for additional scrutiny harassment. Since this story broke in 2013, the number of groups has increased from 298 targets to 426. In the report, the Washington Times quotes the IRS as saying:
“But in a filing Friday, the IRS said it has conducted a final search and can’t find any evidence that the White House either asked for or received protected information.”
But the media often forgets that at least one legislator from Colorado specifically requested that the IRS persecute conservative-leaning groups – that would be embattled Democratic U.S. Senator Michael Bennet. Here is an excerpt from a letter that Bennet sent to the head of the IRS, specifically nudging the IRS to investigate a conservative group:
“For instance, long-time partisan operative Karl Rove is a senior official behind a 501(c)(4) ‘social welfare’ charity, yet it’s common knowledge that his organization exists to elect and defeat specific political candidates. Elections operations such as Mr. Rove’s should not be allowed to masquerade as charities to take advantage of their tax exempt status and hide their donors from the public. It’s the IRS’s job to enforce the tax code and make sure that ‘social welfare’ organizations are what they say they are.”
Well, isn’t that funny. Bennet wants the IRS to investigate the very type organizations that have proved so advantageous to the left. Funny that Bennet didn’t mention any 501(c)(4) charities that helped him hobble across the finish line in 2010.
It would be interesting to know how many of these persecuted groups are in Colorado. Nonetheless, these attempts by Sen. Bennet and his friends to silence political speech on the right should be condemned.