Bombshell Disclosure That Tea Party Targeting By IRS Conducted Mainly By GOP Is Suppressed By Fox News

The truth about the alleged targeting of Tea Party groups by the IRS continues to leak out, but not with much help from Fox News. For weeks now, Republicans in congress and the conservative media, led by Fox News, have been struggling to find links between the Cincinnati IRS office, where targeting was said to have occurred, and the White House. Their failure to turn up any such links has clearly frustrated them, resulting in their making embarrassing assertions about their “gut feelings” and abandoning any pretense to engage in factual discourse.

False FlagThe latest revelation to cast doubt on the GOP’s scandal mongering is the disclosure by Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings who announced yesterday that it is was a manager in the Cincinnati IRS office who instigated the Tea Party reviews. The manager also identified himself as a conservative Republican and insisted that the review policy was wholly contained in his office and did not involve the White House. He is the latest named source in the affair that has turned out to be a Republican. Previously, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, and Lois Lerner, the head of the agency’s Tax-Exempt Organizations division, were revealed to be Republicans hired by George W. Bush.

With such disclosures it makes it difficult for informed citizens to conclude that there was any political chicanery orchestrated by the White House to disadvantage conservative groups. But it is also difficult to be informed when media such as Fox News deliberately suppresses key facts about the matter.

After Rep. Cummings told CNN about the Cincinnati manager’s testimony, and GOP Committee Chairman Darrel Issa’s refusal to release the transcripts, Fox News reported only that Cummings thought the hearings should be wrapped up. In several segments spanning Fox & Friends and Happening Now, the Fox presentation of the story left out the key fact that the witness was another Republican and thus, not an Obama functionary. As I noted previously, there has not been a single partisan Democrat identified at the IRS who had anything to do with the application reviews.

The desperation of Fox News to prolong the season of pseudo-scandals is glaringly obvious. They can’t be bothered to report breaking news that disputes their predetermined biases. They also cannot allow guests to engage in fact-based discourse, so they rudely shout them down and then demand that their microphones be cut. That’s what happened when Democratic strategist Julian Epstein was interviewed by Fox bully and serial interrupter, Neil Cavuto:

Fox is behaving like an impudent child that hasn’t gotten his way. They want a scandal so badly and they will hold their breath until they get one. And if the facts don’t support their fabrications, they ignore them and the people with the effrontery to be honest information brokers. That’s just part of the reason that nobody outside of Fox’s studio and fan base regard them as journalists or give them any credibility.

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8 thoughts on “Bombshell Disclosure That Tea Party Targeting By IRS Conducted Mainly By GOP Is Suppressed By Fox News

  1. Neil Cavuto and Ben Stein are only two of the line-up of disreputable political hacks on Fox. Stein gave a commentary, a few years ago, on CBS Sunday Morning on the phony ‘war on christmas’ trotted out every year by right wingers and in his diatribe he attacked everyone he considered liberal, including Dr. Seuss for all of America’s problems. In his rush to attack Dr. Seuss(long deceased and unable to defend himself from attacks) he suggested his son committed suicide because he was raised by a liberal, a sort of, this is what we rightfully expect from this sort of upbringing. The only problem with this is that Dr. Seuss had two sons and both are alive and well today. One of his sons did have a son(Seuss’s grandson) who suffered from schizophrenia and did commit suicide in his late teens. Something not uncommon for people who suffer from this terrible disease. He never apologized or made a correction of this fabrication that I am aware of. This was a common urban myth that spread and many people thought it to be true. For this man to take an urban myth and broadcast it to millions of people on a national network as a fact is, to me, border line criminal. The man is either a effing liar or so incompetent he should never be put in front of a camera again. But as we know this is how Fox practices what they call journalism. Come up with the conclusion you want and then present made up facts to support it. The network should have their license revoked by the FCC!

  2. Bombshell???? Really??

    Look up Carter C. Hull, the Washington-based Internal Revenue Service lawyer who oversaw improper targeting of tea party groups, is a registered Democrat.

    • Hull didn’t “oversee” anything. He was an attorney with the technical unit in DC where questions regarding legal matters were referred. The complete testimony (which Issa is still refusing to release) reveals that. Cummings already addressed this and, if Issa doesn’t release the full transcripts by Friday, Cummings said he will.

      Don’t you wonder why Issa is afraid to let the people know everything, but Cummings is not?

    • Also, if you look at the letters Hull wrote in the matter, there was nothing improper about them. He did not select any groups for reviews. He merely outlined what questions could be asked.

      Some of the applicants did receive some questions that were ridiculous and never should have been asked. But those questions did not come from Hull. His questions were routine and appropriate. The source for the inappropriate questions has not been discerned yet (or not revealed). But it appears they came from locals in Cincinnati who did not get legal advice from DC.

      • Guess what, Goober? They are still digging into this scandal, and they are still finding people guilty of pulling this crap. So some of the IRS idiots responsible are Republicans? Big fat hairy deal. This is still a scandal primarily caused by a Chicago-thug-style politician’s administration. He sets the tone.

        • Scott, you don’t believe liar Issa, do you?

          These audits of 501 (c) 4 corporations were initiated by the manager of the office in Cincinnati, and he describes himself as a “conservative Republican.” There is no “scandal,” the IRS was doing their job right.

          As a communication major, I would think you would be able to differentiate between information and propaganda. BTW, propagandists name call. If you want to be taken seriously, you should refrain from name-calling. “Goober” is unbecoming.

  3. If Epstein had listened to your wise advice, Mark, he wouldn’t have put himself in the position by appearing on FOX at all.Of course he didn’t deserve the treatment or invite it. I’m saying if it surprised him he’s terribly naive.

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