After reviewing the scandal in which Tea Party organizations were targeted by the Obama IRS for more rigorous tax exempt scrutiny, the Department of Justice announced a settlement with those groups, putting an end to an affair which first came to light in 2013.
Rep. Peter Roskam requested that the Trump Justice Department take another look at the scandal back in May.
“We think it is important that the Justice Department thoroughly review it because in our view the Obama administration was dismissive,” Roskam said.
The Trump administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions did review it, and on Thursday announced settlements with the Tea Party groups.
It is a tacit admission of the corruption that fueled the IRS under Obama, in which certain political opponents were targeted unlawfully.
One of the settlement agreements, filed in federal court in D.C., officially admits that the IRS singled out groups because of their political beliefs, in defiance of the law.
— ςｻi⃘lིlི (@chiIIum) October 26, 2017
The IRS was discovered to have used terms such as “Tea Party” or “Patriots” to delay tax exempt applications, something Sessions described as “wrong and should never have occurred.”
“It is improper for the IRS to single out groups for different treatment based on their names or ideological positions,” he said.
My thoughts on the DOJ settlement with some of the IRS victims. pic.twitter.com/78ykV00zmU
— Ali 👑 (@ali) October 26, 2017
Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, described the settlement case as a “resounding victory in our legal challenge to the IRS’s political targeting of conservative organizations.”
“It is impossible to overstate the importance of this victory,” he said. “It sends a powerful warning to the deep state bureaucracy that it will not be allowed to violate the Constitution in order to silence and shut down the conservative agenda.”
The Obama administration tried to shut down the conservative agenda, and the conservative agenda responded by ushering in the Trump administration. It took their investigation to finally hold the previous administration accountable.
Furthermore, Sekulow reveals that the IRS has heretofore agreed to never engage in such political targeting again.
The #IRS is consenting to a court order that would prohibit it from ever engaging in discrimination again. #JayLive https://t.co/U1zP8iDwNW
— Jay Sekulow (@JaySekulow) October 26, 2017
Finally, Tea Party groups held down by President Obama have scored a victory.
What do you think of the Tea Party settlements? Share your thoughts below!
