(Biz Pac Review) – In spite of confusing messages and midday rain showers, the tea party showed up in force at the local IRS office in Orlando on Tuesday to express its dissatisfaction with the agency.

On a warm, humid Central Florida day, dozens of protestors turned out in spite of an out of the way location and a somewhat inexplicable call to suspend the event amid a series of inconsistent messages from various tea party factions.

FAX BLAST SPECIAL: Audit The I.R.S

The protest was held in Maitland, Florida, a short drive north of Orlando and not surprisingly, North Lake Tea Party, long the standard bearer of the Central Florida tea party movement, was on hand.

The tea party was acting on a call to action by Tea Party Patriots Inc., which bills itself as the nation’s largest tea party organization, in response to recent admissions by IRS officials that the agency had intentionally targeted tea party and conservative groups.

A scandal that continues to grow in scope with each passing day.

Under the watchful eye of Homeland Security — yes, they were present — protestors carried signs that read “We Do Not Consent to Tyranny,” “Abolish the IRS” and “Don’t Target me Bro!,” making it clear they do not condone the use of the IRS as a political weapon.

As one protestor noted, it’s insulting that Homeland Security felt the need to be present as American citizens exercise their first amendment right, but decide to look away when suspected Islamic terrorist Tamerlan Tsarnaev travels back and forth to his home country.

Today’s action is likely to do little to change the face of a scandal that is now fully owned by the Obama administration, but it does serve notice that the tea party is still around. Even if it’s “leaders” are missing in action.

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During a fundraiser in New Hampshire, Paul characterized the IRS targeting as “un-American” and said the Inspector General’s report “makes it sound as if there was some sort of policy directive” at the taxation agency.

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Paul said the IRS scandal will create “such a level of distrust” that there is “going to have to be some kind of independent commission” to conduct an investigation.

“There’s going to have to be an independent analysis of this, either an independent commission or something to look at this, because I think frankly people are losing their trust in their government,” he said.

Paul also said it is difficult to believe the White House was not aware of the activity prior to the 2012 election. “People within the IRS have known this for a year and a half,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tea Party groups are planning protests in Atlanta and Cincinnati in response to the scandal.

The Cincinnati IRS office handled Tea Party and patriot group tax-exempt applications. The IRS has acknowledged the harassment came from that office.

A CNN poll reveals that the Tea Party has received a favorability bump in response to the scandal.

“Politically, the group that may have benefitted the most from last week’s news is the tea party movement, which may be getting something akin to a ‘sympathy vote’ for being targeted by the highly unpopular IRS,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland said on Monday.

http://www.infowars.com/rand-paul-calls-for-independent-investigation-of-irs-scandal/

(Daily Mail) – The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday afternoon that Lois Lerner, who heads up the Internal Revenue Service’s tax-exempt division, plans to invoke the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in a hearing Wednesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs.

The Fifth Amendment provides that U.S. citizens may not be compelled to offer testimony if telling the truth would incriminate them.

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Lerner’s defense lawyer, William W. Taylor III, wrote to the committee on Tuesday that his client would refuse to answer questions related to what she knew about the extra levels of scrutiny applied to conservative nonprofit organizations that applied for tax-exempt status beginning in 2010.

She also will decline to say why she didn’t disclose what she knew to Congress, according to the LA Times.

Lerner ‘has not committed any crime or made any misrepresentation,’ Taylor’s letter read, ‘but under the circumstances she has no choice but to take this course.’

He is asking the oversight committee to excuse Lerner from testifying, claiming that calling her in a congressional hearing would ‘have no purpose other than to embarrass or burden her’ since members would not expect her to answer questions.

Ahmad Ali, a committee spokesman, told MailOnline that ‘Ms. Lerner remains under subpoena from Chairman Issa to appear at tomorrow’s hearing – the Committee has a Constitutional obligation to conduct oversight.’

‘Chairman [Darrel] Issa remains hopeful that she will ultimately decide to testify tomorrow about her knowledge of outrageous IRS targeting of Americans for their political beliefs.’

The IRS applied special criteria to conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status, putting them on a ‘Be On The Lookout’ (BOLO) list, based on the groups’ names and political philosophies.

President Barack Obama has said he was unaware of the program until May 10, when excerpts of an IRS Inspector General Report on the practice were leaked to reporters.

But Jay Carney, the president’s chief spokesman, confirmed Monday that senior White House staff, including White House Counsel Kathy Ruemmler and Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, knew about the IRS’s habits as early as April 24, and chose not to tell Obama.

The Inspector General report found that Lerner and other IRS were notified in or before June 2011 that some staff in the agency’s Cincinnati, Ohio office were using ‘tea party,’ ‘patriots’ and other key words to add applicants to the BOLO list.

Once on that list, the groups were subjected to additional auditing of their financial practices, their membership and their political activities.

Despite knowing about the program, Lerner and other senior IRS staffers withheld the information from Congress despite receiving several requests from House committees whose members heard from constituents that their tea party groups’ tax-exempt approvals were taking as long as two years to be resolved.

The House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee was among those that specifically asked the IRS whether it was inspecting tea party groups more closely than other applicants, including those on the political left.

Lerner herself launched her agency’s scandal with a planted question-and-answer exchange during a May 10 American Bar Association conference.

Asked the pre-arranged question, Lerner responded by conceding that her employees had acted inappropriately.

‘Instead of referring to the cases as advocacy cases, they actually used case names on this list,’ she told the assembled tax lawyers.

‘They used names like “tea party” or “Patriots,” and they selected cases simply because the applications had those names in the title.That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, insensitive, and inappropriate — that’s not how we go about selecting cases for further review.’

She later claimed that the increase in scrutiny of tea party groups was due to an influx of new applications from right-wing organizations, following the Supreme Court’s ‘Citizens United’ ruling, which opened the floodgates to greater political participation by nonprofit advocacy groups.

The Washington Post called that claim bogus, however, with the newspaper’s fact checker awarding it a ‘four Pinocchios’ rating for dishonesty.

Lerner’s boss, acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller, was relieved of his post by Treasury Secretary Jack Lew last week, although the term of his appointment to the job was already scheduled to end in early June.

Other higher-ups inside the IRS have not been publicly held accountable for the improper targeting of conservative organizations.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2328696/Lois-Lerner-Top-IRS-official-invoke-Fifth-Amendment-congressional-hearing-tea-party-targeting-program.html

As Breitbart News reported late Monday night, a coalition of Tea Partiers and conservatives from all around the country banded together to call on lawmakers to do exactly what McConnell has decided not to do.

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In the letter, the Tea Party coalition sent to members of Congress including McConnell, the group specifically asked lawmakers to block the vote on a motion to proceed.

“We urge you to vote against it and against any cloture vote to bring up the bill,” the group wrote. “Only then can a constructive, measured debate take place on how to improve America’s immigration policy.”

The Hill reported Tuesday that McConnell said: “With regard to getting started on the bill, it’s my intention — if there is a motion to proceed required — to vote for the motion to proceed so we can get on the bill and see if it we’re able to pass a bill that actually moves the ball in the right direction.”

“The Gang of Eight has made a substantial contribution to moving the issue forward,” McConnell added. “So far, I’m told that the Judiciary Committee has not in any fundamental way undone the agreement reached by the eight senators so I’m hopeful we’ll be able to get a bill we can pass here in the Senate.”
In a separate piece on Tuesday, The Hill noted that McConnell may face a primary challenge from a conservative Tea Party candidate as he is up for re-election in 2014 but has “taken steps to shore up his right flank, hiring [Sen. Rand] Paul’s former campaign manager Jesse Benton and appearing with Paul by his side in the state.”

If McConnell ends up coming down in favor of this bill that faces virulent opposition from the grassroots, conservative flank of the GOP in Kentucky may be able to field a challenger to fight against him.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/21/McConnell-defies-Tea-Party-coalition-calls-to-shut-down-immigration-bill

Douglas Shulman, who vacated his position last November when his five-year term expired, told the Senate Finance Committee he didn’t learn all the facts until he read last week’s report by a Treasury inspector general confirming the targeting strategy.

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In his first public remarks since the story broke, Shulman said: “I agree this is an issue that when someone spotted it, they should have brought it up the chain. And they didn’t. I don’t know why.”

Shulman was testifying at Congress’ second hearing on the episode that has largely consumed Washington since an IRS official acknowledged the targeting and apologized for it in remarks to a legal group on May 10. Shulman and the two officials who testified – the outgoing acting commissioner, Steven Miller, and J. Russell George, the Treasury Department inspector general who issued the report – were all sworn in as witnesses, an unusual step for the Finance panel.

Asked by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, whether he owed conservative groups an apology, Shulman said, “I’m certainly not personally responsible for creating a list that had inappropriate criteria on it.”

That was a reference to a list of words IRS workers looked for in deciding which groups to screen, a list that included the terms including “tea party” and “patriot.”

“I very much regret that it happened and that it happened on my watch,” Shulman said.

The testimony by Shulman and Miller drew skepticism from lawmakers of both parties, including critical remarks from people who have been unhesitant to say anything negative about the IRS since its activities were revealed nearly two weeks ago. Republicans openly rejected George’s assertion that he has no evidence that the decision to target conservative groups was politically motivated.

A lack of political motivation “is almost beyond belief,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.

George’s report blamed ineffective management for allowing agents to inappropriately target conservative groups for more than 18 months during the 2010 and 2012 elections. Shulman was appointed by President George W. Bush and served from March 2008 until last November.

At a separate hearing, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the IRS’s actions against conservative groups were “unacceptable and inexcusable.”

Lew told the Senate Banking Committee that he has directed the agency’s incoming acting director, Daniel Werfel, to hold people accountable and to fix any flaws in IRS management to make sure there is no recurrence of the problems.

Lew said he first learned about the inspector general’s investigation in March but that he was unaware of the findings until they became public this month. Lew became Treasury secretary in February, and was White House chief of staff before that.

Shulman said he first learned that something was happening in the spring of 2012.

He said that at that time, he learned that IRS workers were using a list to help decide which groups seeking tax-exempt status should get special attention and knew the term “tea party” was on that list. But he said he didn’t know what other words were on that list or the scope and severity of the activity.

He said he took what he thought were the proper steps – making sure the inspector general was looking into the situation. He said he did not tell Treasury officials about the improper activity.

For more than a year, from 2011 through the 2012 election, members of Congress repeatedly asked Shulman about complaints from tea party groups that they were being harassed by the IRS.

Shulman’s responses, usually relayed by a deputy, did not acknowledge that agents had ever targeted tea party groups for special scrutiny. At a congressional hearing March 22, 2012, Shulman was adamant in his denials.

“There’s absolutely no targeting. This is the kind of back and forth that happens to people” who apply for tax-exempt status, Shulman said at the House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing.

On Tuesday, Republicans expressed anger that Shulman and Miller didn’t reveal the screening of conservative groups to Congress, despite lawmakers’ repeated inquiries. Miller learned of the situation in early May 2012.

“Mr. Miller, that’s a lie by omission,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, top Republican on the Finance committee. “There’s no question about that in my mind. It’s a lie by omission and you kept it from people who have the obligation to oversee this matter.”

President Barack Obama has forced Miller to resign, and he is leaving office this week.

Shulman said he didn’t later tell lawmakers about the targeting because he didn’t have full information about the situation.

“I had a partial set of facts,” Shulman said. “Sitting there then, sitting here today, I think I made the right decision” to let George, the inspector general, conduct his audit of the targeting.

Shulman said that when he did finally read about the details of the targeting in the inspector general’s report, “I was dismayed and I was saddened.”

Hatch and Finance panel chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., both criticized the agency and said they would investigate how and why the improper screening occurred.

“I intend to get to the bottom of what happened,” Baucus said.

The IRS is an independent agency within the Treasury Department. Because of that independent status, the official said Treasury deferred to the IRS in its decision about how to make the targeting public.

George, the Treasury inspector general, says he told Shulman on May 30, 2012, that his office was auditing the way applications for tax-exempt status were being handled, in part because of complaints from conservative groups. However, George said he did not reveal the results of his investigation.

The IRS agents were conducting the screening to determine whether the groups were engaged in political activity. Certain tax-exempt groups are allowed to engage in politics, but politics cannot be their primary mission. It is up to the IRS to make the determination, so agents are supposed to look for clues when reviewing applications for tax-exempt status.

In March 2010, agents starting singling out groups with “Tea Party” or “Patriots” on their applications. By August 2010, it was part of the written criteria for identifying groups that required more scrutiny, according to George’s report.

Agents did not flag similar progressive or liberal labels, though some liberal groups received additional scrutiny because their applications were singled out for other reasons, the report said.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_IRS_POLITICAL_GROUPS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-05-21-11-18-04

(Washington Examiner) – Internal Revenue Service officials not only wanted a wide variety of information from the Albuquerque Tea Party’s application for non-profit status, it also wanted to know what contacts it had with people from other political organizations too.

That included an 83-year-old great-grandmother who was once held in a World War II internment camp, New Mexico Watchdog has discovered.

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“I’ve always paid my taxes and everything,” Marianne Chiffelle told New Mexico Watchdog. “What I do think is, it doesn’t surprise me…because of this government we have at the moment.”

According to a review of documents conducted by the online news organization Politico, (in a story headlined “The IRS wants YOU — to share everything”), the IRS asked the Albuquerque Tea Party about connections to other groups, including “Marianne Chiffelle’s Breakfasts.”
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That prompted us to do some digging.

It took New Mexico Watchdog less than an hour to learn that “Marianne Chiffelle’s Breakfasts” is not some restaurant chain, but a reference to the volunteer work of Chiffelle, a retiree who helps organize informal 9 a.m. meetings for members of the Bernalillo County Republican Party.

The group meets on Fridays at a Golden Corral restaurant. “We’ve had these meetings for a long time,” Chiffelle said. “It’s not a business.”

Chiffelle is a naturalized American citizen who was born in what was then called the Dutch East Indies, now known as Indonesia. Her father was an executive for Shell Oil and when World War II broke out Chiffelle was sent to a Japanese internment camp where she spent four years, from age 12 to 16.

After the war, she moved to the Netherlands and in 1960 she and her late husband immigrated to the United States.

Since living in Albuquerque, Chiffelle has been active in GOP politics and conservative causes. She helped establish the Children’s Freedom Scholarship Fund, which hands out patriotic coloring books to youngsters in the Albuquerque area.

“The kids don’t have any idea, they think freedom is just there for the taking,” Chiffelle said.

The book includes pictures of U.S. presidents and puzzles for kids to learn about U.S. history, as well as essays such as “What Does Freedom Mean to You?”

New Mexico Watchdog reviewed the coloring book and found nothing advocating for political parties or organizations.

Recent entries on Chiffelle’s Facebook page include a link to a call for cuts in salaries to members of Congress, the vice president and president, as well as a petition to send a sympathy card to those affected by the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

While no fan of the Obama administration, Chiffelle says she is no pitchfork-wielding, anti-government type.

“The fact itself that you have to pay tax(es) to the government is okay,” she said. “But the way they interpret it and how many rules there are, that’s wrong.”

The IRS is embroiled in a national scandal after revealing that it has targeted tea party and conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for non-profit, 501(c)4 status between 2010 and the 2012 presidential election. The Albuquerque Tea Party is one of the organizations that’s been wrangling with the IRS since 2009.

“They (the IRS) have a job to do, I understand that,” Albuquerque Tea Party President Rick Harbaugh told New Mexico Watchdog. “I think they overstepped that a lot.”

The Politico story mentioned the IRS also wanted the Albuquerque Tea Party to supply more information about a group called Conspiracy Brews.

An Internet search revealed that Conspiracy Brews is a weekly meeting of Albuquerque political types that was founded by Janice Arnold-Jones — a former Republican nominee for Congress, member of the state legislature and current Albuquerque City Council member.

“It’s just a discussion group,” Arnold-Jones said. “When the group named itself, it was done in the interests of a conspiracy for good government…it leans conservative but it’s an interesting mix of people. Our only rule is, when people speak you have to listen.”

“I attended just one meeting,” Harbaugh said.

The website design for Conspiracy Brews is simple and New Mexico Watchdog found no anti-government rhetoric on the site.

Arnold-Jones said she does not lead the group and it’s “not a taxable entity of any sort.”

New Mexico Watchdog counted 25 attendees at the group’s weekly Saturday meeting, including Chiffelle, who is a regular.

The Politico story mentioning Conspiracy Brews and Chiffelle prompted some jokes but also some serious discussion.

“The part I’m not delighted about,” Arnold-Jones said, “is the fact that the IRS is picking and choosing (whom to investigate) … I think this is an incredible erosion of trust.”

As for Chiffelle, having her name mentioned as part of the IRS investigation has drawn more attention than she’s accustomed to but she seemed genuinely unperturbed.

“Don’t cut me short,” Chiffelle said. “I was a prisoner of war in the Second World War. If the Japanese couldn’t kill me, no one else can. That’s my philosophy. If something is unfair, I will fight to the death…Nothing upsets me. But I’ll do something about it.”

http://washingtonexaminer.com/irs-went-after-83-year-old-tea-party-granny/article/2530131