Hypocrite Elijah Cummings Conspired With IRS
Posted 04/10/2014 06:50 PM ET
Rep.
Elijah E. Cummings participates in a hearing on the Justice
Department's investigation into the IRS abuse scandal on Feb. 6, 2014,
on Capitol... View Enlarged Image
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said on CNN's "State of the Union" last year, "Based upon everything I've seen, the case is solved. And if it were me, I would wrap this case up and move on, to be frank with you."
Of course he wanted to move on, for he had been working hand in glove with the IRS to target conservative groups and wanted the fact to remain a secret.
On Feb. 6, in a subcommittee hearing that heard the testimony of Catherine Engelbrecht — founder of True the Vote, who was targeted by the IRS, FBI and other federal agencies — Cummings vehemently denied having any contact or coordination in targeting True the Vote.
Responding, attorney Cleta Mitchell, who is representing True the Vote, indicated that staff on the committee had been involved in communication with the IRS. In short, Cummings was not telling the truth.
After the hearing, Engelbrecht filed a formal ethics complaint accusing the Maryland Democrat of trying to intimidate her by causing the targeting.
Cummings on three separate occasions had sent letters with his title on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee stating that he had concerns and that True the Vote should be investigated.
Emails released by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, a California Republican, show that Cummings' Democratic staff had requested information from the IRS' tax-exempt division, the one headed by Lois Lerner, on True the Vote, a conservative group that monitors polling places for voter fraud and supports the use of voter IDs, something Cummings opposes. "The IRS and the Oversight Minority made numerous requests for virtually identical information from True the Vote, raising concerns that the IRS improperly shared protected taxpayer information with Rep. Cummings' staff," the Oversight panel said in a statement.
According to Issa, Cummings and his staff sought "copies of all training materials used for volunteers, affiliates or other entities" from True the Vote.
Five days later, the group received an almost identical request from the IRS for (1) "a copy of (True the Vote's) volunteer registration form," (2) "the process you use to assign volunteers," (3) "how you keep your volunteers in teams" and (4) "how your volunteers are deployed ... following the training they receive by you."
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