Feds Balk at Releasing Docs Showing IRS Sharing Tax Returns with White House
By Paul Bedard | Washington Examiner
Less than a week after ’fessing up that it found some 2,500 documents potentially showing that the IRS shared taxpayer returns with the White House, the Obama administration has reversed course and won’t release the trove to a group suing for access.
In an abrupt decision, the Treasury inspector general’s office said that the documents are covered by privacy and disclosure laws and can’t be provided to Cause of Action, despite a promise last week to hand over some 2,500.
The decision coincides with publication by the Washington Examiner this week of “Watchdogs, lapdogs and attack dogs,” a four-part series examining the successes and failures of the inspectors-general system, including multiple instances in which IGs provided cover for agency managers seeking to avoid more rigorous evaluations.
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