Patience, Grasshoppers, patience.
The wheels of justice slowly have been turning, and those of us who feared that Lois Lerner and the IRS would get off scot-free despite their lawless targeting of Tea Party groups have something to celebrate. And Lois Lerner may have had a troubled sleep last night if she was paying attention instead of enjoying her six-figure pension with leisure activities.
An appeals court judge in the Sixth Circuit has delivered a blistering rebuke to both the Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department attorneys that have defended it in behalf of a unanimous three-judge panel. As a result, officials current and former will be forced to testify under oath for their misdeeds in a civil action with big bucks at stake.
Stephen Dinan reports in the Washington Times:
A federal appeals court spanked the IRS Tuesday, saying it has taken laws designed to protect taxpayers from the government and turned them on their head, using them to try to protect the tax agency from the very tea party groups it targeted.
The judges ordered the IRS to quickly turn over the full list of groups it targeted so that a class-action lawsuit, filed by the NorCal Tea Party Patriots, can proceed. The judges also accused the Justice Department lawyers, who are representing the IRS in the case, of acting in bad faith — compounding the initial targeting — by fighting the disclosure.
I wonder if complaints can be filed against the individual DoJ lawyers who misbehaved?
Now, discovery can begin in the case, which means opening up internal documents and taking testimony under oath.
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