John McCains Staff Director Urged Lois Lerner To Use The IRS To Punish Tea Party Groups And Where Is He Now?

Shawnee_B · FAR BEYOND DRIVEN

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Shawnee_B · FAR BEYOND DRIVEN

John McCains Staff Director Urged Lois Lerner To Use The IRS To Punish Tea Party Groups And Where Is He Now?

Posted at 2:30 pm on June 22, 2018 by streiff

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Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, acknowledges a fellow Navy veteran during a Phoenix Memorial Day Ceremony at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, Monday, May 30, 2016, in Phoenix. At age 79, running what may be his last campaign, McCain finds himself on uncertain terrain. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)

After the Democrats got their clock cleaned in 2010, they and their progressive allies turned to the tried and true Obama era method of using law enforcement authority to pursue political goals. Eventually, the IRS admitted it had targeted conservative groups improperly and this resulted in the resignation and contempt of Congress citation for Lois Lerner, and earlier this year, a multi-million dollar settlement to the targeted groups. Now, thanks to the indefatigable Judicial Watch, we know there was another player involved: the sainted John McCain. On April 30, 2013, John McCains staff director and counsel, Henry Kerner, was at a meeting with Lois Lerner where the subject was how to rein in 501(c)4 groups who were, in the view of the group, primarily political.

Lerner and other IRS officials met with select top staffers from the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in a marathon meeting to discuss concerns raised by both Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) that the IRS was not reining in political advocacy groups in response to the Supreme Courts Citizens United decision. Senator McCain had been the chief sponsor of the McCain-Feingold Act and called the Citizens United decision, which overturned portions of the Act, one of the worst decisions I have ever seen.
Henry Kerner asked how to get to the abuse of organizations claiming section 501 (c)(4) but designed to be primarily political. Lois Lerner said the system works, but not in real time. Henry Kerner noted that these organizations dont disclose donors. Lois Lerner said that if they dont meet the requirements, we can come in and revoke, but it doesnt happen timely. Nan Marks said if the concern is that organizations engaging in this activity dont disclose donors, then the system doesnt work. Henry Kerner said that maybe the solution is to audit so many that it is financially ruinous. Nikole noted that we have budget constraints. Elise Bean suggested using the list of organizations that made independent expenditures. Lois Lerner said that it is her job to oversee it all, not just political campaign activity.

You can read the meeting summary here.

What is notable in this is that it is Lois Lerner assuring McCains staffer that systems are in place to police the system, but McCains guy doesnt think they are working fast enough.

This is not the first time that McCain has been accused of having a hand in the IRS crackdown of conservative groups and the reason the story was plausible is because McCains contempt for conservative grassroots groups and his love of incumbent protection schemes of all types was pretty well known. In April 2015, as more and more details of the IRS abuse were becoming known. Judicial Watch issued a press release saying that McCain was working with Michigan Senator Carl Levin to limit the impact of the Citizens United case. McCain denied the allegation

Like so many Americans, I was shocked and appalled by revelations that the IRS inappropriately singled out conservative groups for scrutiny, and that our tax system was used to target political opponents.
As Ranking Member of the Senates Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, I devoted significant time and resources to help get to the bottom of this disturbing abuse of power by the IRS. Any article suggesting otherwise is simply wrong, and ignores the facts of my actions over the last several years.

Ironically, McCain cites the same meeting where his staff director suggested using audits as a way of driving these small nonprofits out of existence as proof that he was on the ball on IRS abuse and uses it as a way to slam Lois Lerner.

This brings us to Henry Kerner. He now heads the Office of Special Counsel, that is the office charged with overseeing the protection of whistleblowers, the enforcement of the Hatch Act, and the integrity of the federal personnel system. He got that job because President Trump nominated him.

In fairness, the President has the authority to directly appoint around 3,000 federal employees. Most of them he doesnt know and couldnt pick out of a two-man line-up. But is the cupboard really so bare that we have to rely on McCain staffers, particularly one that now looks damned complicit in the targeting of conservative nonprofits, to fill those jobs?

Shawnee_B · FAR BEYOND DRIVEN

JOHN MCCAIN FUNDED BY SOROS SINCE 2001

Candidate's Reform Institute also accepted funds from Teresa Kerry

Published: 02/12/2008 at 1:00 AM

JEROME R. CORSI About | Email | Archive

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George Soros

As Sen. John McCain assumes the GOP front-runner mantle, his long-standing, but little-noticed association with donors such as George Soros and Teresa Heinz Kerry is receiving new attention among his Republican critics.

In 2001, McCain founded the Alexandria, Va.-based Reform Institute as a vehicle to receive funding from George Soros Open Society Institute and Teresa Heinz Kerrys Tides Foundation and several other prominent non-profit organizations.

McCain used the institute to promote his political agenda and provide compensation to key campaign operatives between elections.

In 2006, the Arizona senator was forced to sever his formal ties with the Reform Institute after a controversial $200,000 contribution from Cablevision came to light. McCain solicited the donation for the Reform Institute using his membership on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, he supported Cablevisions push to introduce the more profitable al la carte pricing, rather than packages of TV programming.

Yet, the Reform Institute still employs the McCain campaigns Hispanic outreach director, Juan Hernandez, as a senior fellow of its Comprehensive Immigration Reform Initiative.

As WND reported, Hernandez serves as a non-paid volunteer for the McCain campaign. A dual Mexican-U.S. citizen, he was a member of former President Vicente Foxs cabinet, representing an estimate 24 million Mexicans living abroad. Hernandez, with a Mexico first message, has argued aggressively against building a fence on the Mexican border, insisting the frontier needed to remain wide open so illegal immigrants could easily enter the U.S.

The July 6, 2001, homepage of the Reform Institute archived on the Internet lists founder McCain as chairman of the groups advisory committee.

Prominent senior officials on the McCain 2008 presidential campaign staff found generously paid positions at the Reform Institute following the senators unsuccessful run for the White House in 2000.

Rick Davis, McCains current campaign manager, was paid $110,000 a year by the Reform Institute for a consulting position, according to the groups 2003 Form 990 filing with the IRS.

In 2004, Davis advanced to the position of Reform Institute president, with an annual salary of $120,000, according to the groups 2004 Form 990.

In 2005, Davis remained president, but his salary dropped back to $45,000 a year, with a time commitment of five hours per week, according the 2005 Form 990.

Carla Eudy, a senior advisor on McCains 2008 presidential campaign who until recently headed fundraising, was paid $177,885 in 2005 to serve as the Reform Institutes secretary-treasurer.

Other McCain presidential campaign staffers who have found employment at the Reform Institute include Trevor Potter, McCains 2000 legal counsel, and Crystal Benton, the senators former press secretary, who served as institutes communications director in 2005 for an annual salary of $52,083.

The Reform Institute regularly has supported McCain in various legislative efforts, including on campaign finance reform, global warming and comprehensive immigration reform, all efforts widely opposed by many in the partys conservative base.

Arianna Huffington, syndicated columnist and creator of the HuffingtonPost.com, has served on the Reform Institutes advisory committee since the groups inception.

According to FrontPage Magazine, Teresa Heinz Kerry has provided more than $4 million to the Tides Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by anti-war activist Drummond Pike in 1976 with a history of funding causes such as abortion, homosexual-rights activism and open borders.

Financial contributors while McCain was chairman of the Reform Institute also have included the Educational Foundation of America, a group that supports abortion and opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.

The Soros-Kerry funding connection with McCain was first exposed by Ed Morrissey at the Captains Quarters blog in 2005.

Subsequently, David Horowitzs DiscoverTheNetworks.org website and Michelle Malkins blog gave renewed attention to the Reform Institutes funding ties.

John McCains Staff Member Urged IRS to Bankrupt Grassroots Conservative Groups

John McCains Staff Director Urged Lois Lerner To Use The IRS To Punish Tea Party Groups And Where Is He Now?

JOHN MCCAIN FUNDED BY SOROS SINCE 2001

Candidate's Reform Institute also accepted funds from Teresa Kerry