Michael Gaynor
When did President Obama know that the "lost" Lois Lerner email wasn't lost?
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By Michael Gaynor
August 27, 2014

What is the Obama Administration to do (besides lay the race card and rely on the liberal media establishment to ignore or to obfuscate the facts?

During the Watergate investigation, the most important questions were "What did the President know?" and "When did he know it?"

Fair questions then.

Fair questions now.

Is President Obama culpable or clueless?

Will President Obama claim that he just learned that the federal government backs up all IRS email in case of catastrophe?

If he does, will all his advisers plead cluelessness too?

What is the Obama Administration to do (besides lay the race card and rely on the liberal media establishment to ignore or to obfuscate the facts?

On last Super Bowl Sunday, President Obama insisted during an interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly not only that his administration did not mislead the public on the Benghazi attack, but also that the IRS targeting scandal did not involve "even a smidgen of corruption" (www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/03/not-even-smidgen-corruption-obama-downplays-irs-other-scandals/).

Mitt Romney deserves a do over, because so many voters and potential voters were deceived in 2012.

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_IRS_controversy):

2012 Congressional investigation and denials

At least as early as mid-2011, higher-ranking IRS officials knew that conservative groups were being scrutinized.

Selected groups complained to various members of Congress. In response, a congressional committee asked IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman about the allegations in 2012. Shulman told the committee that the agency was not targeting conservative groups. After Shulman denied that the IRS was unfairly targeting conservative groups, the congressional committee ended the 2012 phase of the investigation. Shulman resigned his post in late 2012, before the controversy came to light.

Judicial Watch's shocking August 25, 2014 statement says it all (www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/backups-for-missing-lois-lerner-irs-emails/):

Judicial Watch announced the following developments in the IRS' missing emails investigation. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton stated:

Department of Justice attorneys for the Internal Revenue Service told Judicial Watch on Friday that Lois Lerner's emails, indeed all government computer records, are backed up by the federal government in case of a government-wide catastrophe. The Obama administration attorneys said that this back-up system would be too onerous to search. The DOJ attorneys also acknowledged that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) is investigating this back-up system.

We obviously disagree that disclosing the emails as required would be onerous, and plan to raise this new development with Judge Sullivan.

This is a jaw-dropping revelation. The Obama administration had been lying to the American people about Lois Lerner's missing emails. There are no "missing" Lois Lerner emails – nor missing emails of any of the other top IRS or other government officials whose emails seem to be disappearing at increasingly alarming rate. All the focus on missing hard drives has been a diversion. The Obama administration has known all along where the email records could be – but dishonestly withheld this information. You can bet we are going to ask the court for immediate assistance in cutting through this massive obstruction of justice.

Here is the second set of sworn declarations by IRS officials in response to Judge Emmet G. Sullivan's investigation into the missing emails of Lois Lerner and other IRS officials. The declarations were provided after close of business on Friday, August 22.

The first meeting was held this afternoon by Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola, who was appointed by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan to manage and assist in discussions between Judicial Watch and the IRS about how to obtain any missing records which have been the subject of longstanding Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. IRS (No. 1:13-cv-1559)).

Judge Sullivan has encouraged Judicial Watch to submit a request for limited discovery into the missing IRS records after September 10.

Who thinks that the Obama Administration will produce that never were really missing Lois Lerner email before Election Day 2014?

© Michael Gaynor

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
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Michael Gaynor

Michael J. Gaynor has been practicing law in New York since 1973. A former partner at Fulton, Duncombe & Rowe and Gaynor & Bass, he is a solo practitioner admitted to practice in New York state and federal courts and an Association of the Bar of the City of New York member... (more)

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