IRS Scandal

House likely to hold an impeachment vote on Koskinen

TaxProf quoting NewsmaxRepresentative John Fleming says he and other conservatives are prepared to unilaterally force an impeachment vote within days after Congress returns to session on Sept. 6. “The only thing up in the air is whether it will be the first or second week we’re back,” the Louisiana Republican said in an interview.

At the very least the House needs to hold a vote on this and expose the people who have been opposing it. Under Koskinen's watch, the IRS deleted thousands of documents and destroyed important data that effectively prevented the various investigations from determining the origin of the targeting. Koskinen personally provided what looks to me like false testimony to the House as part of the cover up effort. And the IRS continues to refuse to abandon the Tea Party targeting criteria.

2016-10-06 09:56:52.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Clinton Interrogatory Number 19

Judicial WatchWere you ever advised, cautioned, or warned about hacking or attempted hacking of your clintonemail.com email account or the server that hosted your clintonemail.com account and, if so, what did you do in response to the advice, caution, or warning?

I think the answer has to be "I don't recall", because while she may or may not have been warned about it, she clearly did nothing about it. Awkwardly, at least one email under her name went out to the State Dept warning others about it.

2016-10-06 09:09:47.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

SecState Clinton proposed drone strike on WikiLeaks

TruePundit“Can’t we just drone this guy?” Clinton openly inquired, offering a simple remedy to silence Assange and smother Wikileaks via a planned military drone strike, according to State Department sources. The statement drew laughter from the room which quickly died off when the Secretary kept talking in a terse manner, sources said. Clinton said Assange, after all, was a relatively soft target, “walking around” freely and thumbing his nose without any fear of reprisals from the United States. Clinton was upset about Assange’s previous 2010 records releases, divulging secret U.S. documents about the war in Afghanistan in July and the war in Iraq just a month earlier in October, sources said. At that time in 2010, Assange was relatively free and not living cloistered in in the embassy of Ecuador in London. Prior to 2010, Assange focused Wikileaks’ efforts on countries outside the United States but now under Clinton and Obama, Assange was hammering America with an unparalleled third sweeping Wikileaks document dump in five months. Clinton was fuming, sources said, as each State Department cable dispatched during the Obama administration was signed by her.

Droning a terrorist who has engaged in violence, especially against civilian targets, is one thing. Droning a political opponent who is leaking embarrassing documents is a very different matter.

The sourcing for this claim is somewhat sketchy -- it originates with Wikileaks -- but we already know Hillary has no problem throwing innocent people in jail to cover up her own failure to respond to a terrorist attack on an American embassy. And respectable news sources are beginning to notice the recent body count.

The Fiscal TimesRich was one of three individuals who could have embarrassed the Clintons who died this past summer under peculiar circumstances. Shawn Lucas, 38, a lawyer who had recently served the DNC with a summons alleging fraud on behalf of Sanders’ backers, was found dead in his home. So was former UN diplomat John Ashe, 61, who was set to testify against a Chinese businessman who allegedly had funneled money to the DNC through Bill Clinton and a third party in the 1990s, the so-called “Chinagate” scandal.

You know the saying: once is coincidence, twice is happenstance, three times is enemy action. And even if you assume no ill intent on Clinton's part, it is exactly this sort of careless statement that has centuries of negative historical precedent.

2016-10-05 22:53:40.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Another terrorist stabbing in Belgium

FoxNewsTwo police officers were stabbed Wednesday by a knife-wielding man in Brussels in an incident classified as a "potential terrorist attack," prosecutors said.

The man allegedly stabbed one officer in the neck and the other in the abdomen in the city's heavily-Muslim Schaerbeek neighborhood on Wednesday and then fled the scene. Both officers are expected to survive, a statement from prosecutors said.

The assailant was stopped by a second group of police. He's accused of breaking the nose of one officer, whothen shot the man in the leg.

He's got a knife, and he attacks only police officers, and still wounds three of them before being shot and apprehended. This is not a favorable ratio.

2016-10-05 16:35:50.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

EmDrive to get a test satellite

Popular MechanicsThe EmDrive, a hypothetical miracle propulsion system for outer space, has been sparking heated arguments for years. Now, Guido Fetta plans to settle the argument about reactionless space drives for once and for all by sending one into space to prove that it really generates thrust without exhaust.

I've been following the discussion around this with interest. I'm glad to see an attempt to launch a cheap test platform to settle the issue. We shouldn't reject things that seem to actually work in practice just because we don't understand why they work. This also seems to be an excellent validation of the cubesat program -- a platform for launching cheap test satellites (that burn up in atmosphere after a relatively short time).

2016-10-05 09:56:52.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

FBI agreed to destroy Clinton aides' laptops after review

Fox NewsImmunity deals for two top Hillary Clinton aides included a side arrangement obliging the FBI to destroy their laptops after reviewing the devices, House Judiciary Committee sources told Fox News on Monday.

Sources said the arrangement with former Clinton chief of staff Cheryl Mills and ex-campaign staffer Heather Samuelson also limited the search to no later than Jan. 31, 2015. This meant investigators could not review documents for the period after the email server became public -- in turn preventing the bureau from discovering if there was any evidence of obstruction of justice, sources said.

This is not the sort of agreement a legitimate law enforcement agency would enter into. It can only be described as a coverup. Not only was the FBI prohibited from reviewing information after a certain date -- information that we know based on other events would have almost certainly included successful obstruction of justice by the destruction of evidence -- but the destruction of the laptops themselves prevents the evidence of the FBI's own cover up of the cover up from being reviewed by a future administration.

2016-10-05 07:28:52.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Clinton Interrogatory Number 18

Judicial WatchOn June 28, 2011, you sent a message to all State Department personnel about securing personal email accounts. In the message, you noted “recent targeting of personal email accounts by online adversaries” and directed all personnel to “[a]void conducting official Department business from your personal email accounts.” Why did you continue using your clintonemail.com email account to conduct official State Department business after June 28, 2011, when you were advising all State Department Personnel to avoid doing so? A copy of the June 28, 2011 message is attached as Exhibit E for your review.

I think she's already on record as responding to this by saying the email went out under her name without her actually being the one to send it. It's not a great answer since she should read anything going out under her name, but it may be an honest answer in this case. Certainly she ignored it.

2016-10-05 06:26:48.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Clinton Interrogatory Number 17

Judicial WatchIn February 2011, Assistant Secretary Boswell sent you an Information Memo noting “a dramatic increase since January 2011 in attempts . . . to compromise the private home email accounts of senior Department officials.” Assistant Secretary Boswell “urge[d] Department users to minimize the use of personal web-email for business.” Did you review Assistant Secretary Boswell’s information Memo in or after February 2011, and, if so, why did you continue using your clintonemail.com email account to conduct official State Department business? Include in your answer any steps you took to minimize use of your clintonemail.com email account after reviewing the memo. A copy of Assistant Secretary Boswell’s February 2011 Information Memo is attached as Exhibit D for your review.

No good answer here. She was an idiot. She'll say she doesn't recall it, or anything she might have done in response, because of the concussion.

2016-10-04 11:31:06.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Hillary's record on the environment is poor

PJMediaActress Susan Sarandon told PJM that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s record on environmental issues is “horrible” and agreed she might start World War III if elected president.

PJM asked Sarandon about Clinton accepting more campaign contributions from the oil industry compared to Donald Trump.

According to OpenSecrets.org, contributions to Clinton’s campaign from the oil and gas industry total $525,020 so far in the election cycle compared to Trump’s $148,924.

If you are the sort of person who cares about Hillary's environmental record, especially when an actress like Susan Sarandon (who I don't think I've ever heard of) is offering her analysis of it, consider voting for someone else. Maybe Jill Stein would be more your speed, if you don't like Trump or Johnson. It should be obvious that Hillary will take money from anyone and do what they tell her to once in office.

2016-10-04 09:56:52.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Another terrorist attack in the Phillipines

PJMediaAt least 14 people were killed and more than 80 injured in an explosion that ripped through a popular market in Davao City, Philippines.

President Rodrigo Duterte described the attack as "terrorism" and said that the nation was in a "state of lawlessness."

The government suspects the attack was carried out by the Islamic terror group Abu Sayyaf, which has been carrying on a low-level insurgency to win a Muslim state. But it is also possible that drug dealers were involved given the bloody war Duterte has been waging against them.

Just a reminder that Islam is at war with just about every other form of civilization on earth. It's not just Western Civilization; it's everything that isn't Islam.

2016-10-03 09:56:52.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Clinton Interrogatory Number 16

Judicial WatchEmail exchanges among your top aides and assistants in August 30, 2011 discuss providing you with a State Department-issued BlackBerry or State Department email address. In the course of these discussions, State Department Executive Secretary Stephen Mull wrote, “[W]e are working to provide the Secretary per her request a Department issued BlackBerry to replace her personal unit which is malfunctioning (possibly because of her personal email server is down). We will prepare two versions for her to use – one with an operating State Department email account (which would mask her identity, but which would also be subject to FOIA requests).”

Similarly, John Bentel, the Director of Information and Records Management in the Executive Secretariat, wrote, “You should be aware that any email would go through the Department’s infrastructure and [be] subject to FOIA searches.” Did you request a State-Department issued Blackberry or a State Department email account in or around August 2011, and, if so, why did you continue using your personal device and clintonemail.com email account to conduct official State Department business instead of replacing your device and account with a State Department-issued BlackBerry or a State Department email account?

Include in your answer whether the fact that a State Department-issued BlackBerry or a State Department email address would be subject to FOIA affected your decision.

Copies of the email exchanges are attached as Exhibit C for your review.

This is another tough question, because we have the email evidence that there was a problem and that the FOIA access was a known matter of concern for Clinton. Why mention that FOIA access to her email would be a consequence of the State Dept email account and blackberry if Clinton had not previously expressed some concern about it?

Clinton's response -- to continue using her personal blackberry and server -- speaks for her. She can only attempt to deflect and justify.

2016-10-03 09:51:54.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Why the FBI did not indict Hillary

2016-10-02 13:26:45.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

New York Times releases documents they claim are Trump's 1995 tax returns

There are a few things that positively leap to mind about this story.

First, how did the New York Times obtain these 1995 tax returns? It's not legal for anyone other than Trump to release them. If they were released by anyone at the IRS, it would not only be highly illegal, it would be a confirmation that the agency is biased and ripe for abuse by a Democrat president.

Second, while the New York Times estimates that a tax loss of almost a billion dollars as Trump reported that year would allow him to claim a tax deduction for years to offset that loss, that's perfectly legal. The headline should be "Businessman takes legal tax deduction".

Should Trump release his tax returns? Normally I would say yes, in the general interest of transparency in candidates running for office. But expecting transparency from Hillary over her email records, the records of the Clinton Foundation which she is using to launder the bribes, and her health records is laughable. Neither candidate is transparent here.

The smart move for Trump may be to release as little as possible and see what gets leaked in the run up to the election. Leaked tax returns allow Trump to turn the scandal around on the media, whether the leaked documents are real or fake. If real, they provide the political juice to nail the IRS to the wall.

UPDATE: The New York Times paid no taxes in 2014.

2016-10-02 12:54:39.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

A Security Expert on the Clinton FBI Files

ObserverIf Hillary actually is as dumb as she appears in these FBI documents—utterly clueless about basic classification matters even after years of Federal service at the highest levels—she is nowhere near smart enough to be our commander-in-chief.

In my time with NSA I worked in counterintelligence and I investigated people who mishandled classified information. It was rarely a pretty story and it seldom ended well. Let me state with 100 percent confidence, having now seen at least some of what the FBI discovered about Hillary and her emails, that anybody not named Clinton who did these things would be facing severe criminal charges and potentially years in prison. Democrats need to seriously ask themselves if this is the kind of person they want to represent them on November 8.

John Schindler is a security expert and former National Security Agency analyst and counterintelligence officer. A specialist in espionage and terrorism, he’s also been a Navy officer and a War College professor. He’s published four books and is on Twitter at @20committee.

In my opinion, Hillary's FBI interview should disqualify her from the Presidency. She is either mentally incompetent or guilty of lying to the FBI to escape responsibility for her actions. Or both, of course. Lying to the FBI is a crime. The actions she is trying to escape responsibility for are themselves criminal by any reasonable standard, except it appears there are no "reasonable men" in the FBI.

2016-10-02 09:56:52.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

The timing of Clinton's email purge

PowerLineThe most significant may be the revelation that Team Clinton began wiping Hillary’s server shortly after the New York Times broke the story that she had one. The wiping occurred in March 2015, years after Clinton left office. Clearly, the emails were deleted because the Times story triggered fears that contents would be revealed.

A lot of the other points in the interview and notes demonstrate that she is a liar, an incompetent (whether by way of concussion or coming by her lack of ability naturally), or both. The timing of the server deletion, however, demonstrates what Comey thought was lacking: intent to hide.

2016-10-01 09:56:52.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

The IRS is peddling bullshit to Congress

TaxProf“I want to be clear that no matter how you say it -- whether it's suspended, eliminated or ended -- the IRS stopped this practice long ago and is committed to never using such a list or process ever again,” Koskinen wrote, citing his own repeated testimony to Congress, his speeches and the reports from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration saying the BOLO lists ended three years ago.

“The IRS and its leadership team have been, and remain, absolutely committed to avoiding any selection and further review of potential political cases based on names and policy positions,” he added. “There should be no doubt on this point, or regarding the continued, ongoing commitment by the IRS to be guided by the tax law and nothing else.”

Words have meanings. "Suspended" does not mean the same thing as "eliminated" or "ended", and the word the IRS has used is "suspended." Something that has been suspended can be resumed. You might even say that the suspension is an unusual state of affairs and that eventually ending the suspension and resuming the practice is implied.

Let's also keep in mind here that the "BOLO list" is the red flag the bullfighter waves around to distract the bull. The thing we should be watching is the activity that took place under Group 7822. This is the group in Washington, DC where Tea Party operations were sent to figure out how to handle them, and the group that was described by Cincinatti officials as a "black hole".

Lerner panicked when she found out the BOLO list was using "Tea Party" as an identifier for cases because she knew that using the name would be transparently political. The existence of a list of cases that had been forwarded to Group 7822? No problem. Indefinite delays and abusive interrogatory letters? Just fine. Use a name that makes it obvious there is political targeting going on? Panic.

2016-09-30 09:56:52.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Clinton Interrogatory Number 15

Judicial WatchIn a November 13, 2010 email exchange with Huma Abedin about problems with your clintonemail.com email account, you wrote to Ms. Abedin, in response to her suggestion that you use a State Department email account or release your email address to the Department, “Let’s get a separate address or device.” Why did you continue using your clintonemail.com email account to conduct official State Department business after agreeing on November 13, 2010 to “get a separate address or device?” Include in your answer whether by “address” you meant an official State Department email account (i.e., a “state.gov” account) and by “device” you meant a State Department-issued BlackBerry. A copy of the November 13, 2010 email exchange with Ms. Abedin is attached as Exhibit B for your review.

No idea what she says to this one, offhand, though I vaguely recall maybe there's a response on record somewhere already.

2016-09-30 09:50:05.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Judicial Watch panel on Clinton email

2016-09-30 09:49:45.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Dear FBI Director Comey

Sir, you are a water-laden weasel. It hurts because you know its true.

2016-09-29 14:23:06.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Clinton Interrogatory Number 14

Judicial WatchOn March 6, 2009, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Eric J. Boswell wrote in an Information Memo to your Chief of Staff, Cheryl Mills, that he “cannot stress too strongly, however, that any unclassified BlackBerry is highly vulnerable in any setting to remotely and covertly monitoring conversations, retrieving email, and exploiting calendars.” A March 11, 2009 email states that, in a management meeting with the assistant secretaries, you approached Assistant Secretary Boswell and mentioned that you had read the “IM” and that you “get it.” Did you review the March 6, 2009 Information Memo, and, if so, why did you continue using an unclassified BlackBerry to access your clintonemail.com email account to conduct official State Department business? Copies of the March 6, 2009 Information Memo and March 11, 2009 email are attached as Exhibit A for your review.

Since she's on record with an email response already, this one is harder to dodge. I think she will point to the security record of her server and say no one could ever prove it was hacked. And they can't prove anything about her blackberries or iPads either, because...

Remember, according to the FBI investigation, several of Hillary's blackberries were literally destroyed by smashing them with hammers or breaking them in half.

We could have had the guy who made that ad as the Republican candidate.

2016-09-29 12:53:42.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Immunized Clinton aide lied to FBI but was allowed to keep immunity deal

NYPostIn the latest bombshell from Congress’ probe into what’s looking more and more like an FBI whitewash (or coverup) of criminal behavior by the Democratic nominee and her aides, the Denver-based tech who destroyed subpoenaed emails from Clinton’s server allegedly lied to FBI agents after he got an immunity deal.

That’s normally a felony. As a federal prosecutor, Comey tossed Martha Stewart in jail for it and helped convict Scooter Libby for it as well. Yet the key Clinton witness still maintained his protection from criminal prosecution.

It's always been a coverup, it's just that they're running out of room under the rug.

2016-09-29 10:49:38.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Quid pro Quo

Hot AirHere’s a better question: what specifically did Liveris want to discuss with Hillary in exchange for the use of the aircraft? And another: did Hillary agree to take some sort of action or intervention on behalf of Dow or Liveris in exchange for the favor? Answers to those questions do not emerge from the e-mails, the Times’ Eric Lichtblau reports, but those are the questions that require answering. And it seems even more odd now that these connections are emerging that the FBI and the Department of Justice didn’t take very much interest in finding them when they had these e-mails all to themselves.

I'm sure Hillary cannot recall what was discussed in that private meeting. Perhaps Congress should subpeona the other person who was there and ask them.

2016-09-29 09:56:52.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

26 things we learned from the FBI release last friday

Among other things, someone was messing with FOIA requests by running them through a separate, unusual process with dedicated (and carefully selected) new staff rather than the normal staff. I wouldn't be surprised if that's how Wilkins handled the IRS document production to Congress.

2016-09-28 10:24:10.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

What Trump should have said

What Trump should have said in the debates.

2016-09-28 10:13:53.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

Orlando terrorist's 911 transcript released

He calls for the US to stop airstrikes on ISIS at least 5 times during the call, naming an obscure ISIS commander in the process. Clearly this guy was a serious fan, if not actually affiliated. And remember when the authorities were telling us we didn't know his motive and it might not be terrorism?

Yep. It's another obvious terrorist attack "with no known connection to terrorism".

And oh, by the way... where's his wife?

UPDATE: New York Times reporter asks whether the administration is stage-managing ISIS attacks. Of course they are. Why do you think we on the Right made such a big deal about them refusing to call it terrorism? They've been stage-managing attacks since Benghazi!

2016-09-28 10:13:38.0 by TriggerFinger. 0 comments

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