House Oversight Committee Testimony Debunks GOP Claims Re IRS

After Darrel Issa refused to release the full testimony of his witch hunt to the public, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee have done so.

The transcript contains exchanges such as this, which the Republicans did not want released:

QUESTION: Do you have any reason to believe that anyone in the White House was involved in the decision to screen Tea Party cases?

ANSWER: I have no reason to believe that.

QUESTION: Do you have any reason to believe that anyone in the White House was involved in the decision to centralize the review of Tea Party cases?

ANSWER: I have no reason to believe that.

Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the Committee, wrote to Issa requesting the release as the information released by the Republicans was misleading, falsely suggesting White House involvement. Cummings’ letter concluded:

These facts are a far cry from accusations of a conspiracy orchestrated by the White House to target the President’s political enemies.  At this point in the investigation, not one witness who has appeared before the Committee has identified any involvement by any White House officials in the identification or screening of Tea Party applicants for tax exempt status, and the Committee has obtained no documents indicating any such involvement.

There might be more in the full testimony, which I haven’t had time to read, but the selections above are consistent with the other facts available that the problem was due to low level bureaucrats taking improper shortcuts, not any form of partisan attack by the White House.

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