Why did the IRS wipe clean Lois Lerner’s Blackberry?
An excellent question. The answer? The IRS refuses to say.
Among the most pressing is the fact that a Blackberry belonging to Lois Lerner, a former official at the center of the scandal, was wiped clean shortly after investigators started asking questions about her alleged role in the targeting of conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Despite the fact that this revelation first came to light in August, the IRS has yet explain why this was done.
Considering her former role as chief of the IRS’ tax exempt division, and its proximity to the targeting scandal, the decision to wipe her phone after investigators started asking questions is both suspicious and troubling.
I have to admit I missed this minor detail. In previous examples where the IRS destroyed a hard drive, it was because the hard drive had had problems. The destruction was still illegal, but in at least in that case there was a somewhat reasonable if unlikely reason to do it. With Lerner’s Blackberry they haven’t given us any reason, other than it was done shortly after the investigation had begun.
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An excellent question. The answer? The IRS refuses to say.
Among the most pressing is the fact that a Blackberry belonging to Lois Lerner, a former official at the center of the scandal, was wiped clean shortly after investigators started asking questions about her alleged role in the targeting of conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Despite the fact that this revelation first came to light in August, the IRS has yet explain why this was done.
Considering her former role as chief of the IRS’ tax exempt division, and its proximity to the targeting scandal, the decision to wipe her phone after investigators started asking questions is both suspicious and troubling.
I have to admit I missed this minor detail. In previous examples where the IRS destroyed a hard drive, it was because the hard drive had had problems. The destruction was still illegal, but in at least in that case there was a somewhat reasonable if unlikely reason to do it. With Lerner’s Blackberry they haven’t given us any reason, other than it was done shortly after the investigation had begun.
Readers!
Every February I run a fund-raising drive during my birthday month. This year I celebrate my 72nd birthday, and hope and plan to continue writing and posting on Behind the Black for as long as I am able.
I hope my readers will support this effort. As I did in my November fund-raising drive, I am offering autographed copies of my books for large donations. Donate $250 and you can have a choice of the hardback of either Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 or Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space. Donate $200 and you can get an autographed paperback copy of either. IMPORTANT! If you donate enough to get a book, please email me separately to tell me which book you want and the address to mail it to.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
We will find out where this all goes after the November election if, as is hoped, the Republicans take control of both the Senate in addition to the Congress. What is going on right now is just the stretching of time. And in the end the Republicans may compromise on the issue for some other gain in another area. And we may have to wait until 2017 when Obama and Holder are no longer holding power anyway because no matter what he Congress comes up with related to the breaking of law, the president and Holder will certainly not agree with the findings.
She’s guilty as hell, that is the only reason for all of her electronics to be swept.
People have been focusing a lot on emails but she could have had documents on her phone.
That is what “spoliation of evidence” is all about:
http://definitions.uslegal.com/s/spoliation-of-evidence/
“it is inferred that a person who destroys such evidence does it with consciousness of guilt.”
Meaning, of course, that not only is it correct to infer that Lerner is guilty, but that the IRS is, too, as it is doing the hiding or destroying of these items of evidence. We can even infer that the other IRS employees whose emails have been “lost” are also guilty.
Although many compare this scandal to Watergate, in this case the cover-up is not worse than the original crime of denying people their constitutional rights, which the tax code had been painstakingly written to protect, but they also were obviously influencing a federal (presidential) election. There may also be targeting of people for tax-audit harassment based upon their political activity. As bad as it is (and it *is* bad, especially since the Justice Department is aiding and abetting rather than protecting the rights of We the People), the cover-up is minor in comparison. It is just that we have to get past the cover-up in order to find out how deeply this scandal is rooted within the IRS, Justice Department, and perhaps other agencies.
The appalling nature and amount of corruption seen in this scandal is also found in other events that have occurred, such as (but hardly limited to) the “Fast and Furious” fiasco, and the Benghazi terrorist attack. Have we ever seen this much corruption in any other administration in US history?
Yeah – good point ! ! Hadn’t considered that ! !