Judge sides with IRS in search for Lerner emails

[Geee]

The Hill:

A federal judge on Thursday delivered an early setback to a conservative group’s lawsuit against the IRS, denying a request to allow an independent expert to search for former agency official Lois Lerner’s missing emails.

 

Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court in Washington ruled that the conservative group, True the Vote, had provided no evidence that the IRS had already intentionally destroyed evidence or would do so in the future.

 

He added that approving True the Vote’s request could jeopardize the confidentiality of taxpayer information, and complicate the efforts of an inspector general currently investigating what happened to Lerner’s emails.

 

“The public interest weighs strongly against the type of injunctive relief the plaintiff seeks,” Walton, a George W. Bush nominee, wrote in his 17-page opinion filed Thursday.

 

Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer for True the Vote, on Thursday downplayed the significance of Walton’s ruling, saying the judge had only rejected their request for expedited assistance.

The government has asked the court to dismiss True the Vote’s lawsuit, a request that Mitchell said could be ruled on shortly. If Walton allows the suit to continue, Mitchell said that True the Vote would have other opportunities to get the independent forensic expert and other relief it requested.

[Draggingtree]

IRS notches legal win over lost tea party emails

By RACHAEL BADE | 8/7/14 2:41 PM EDT Updated: 8/7/14 6:09 PM EDT

 

The IRS won what might be Round One in a series of contests pitting tea party groups against the agency, with a federal judge rejecting a conservative group’s bid for a court-appointed forensics expert to hunt for ex-official Lois Lerner’s lost emails.

 

Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia said True the Vote’s lawsuit against the IRS failed to show “irreparable harm” in its injunction relief request and that “the public interest weighs strongly against the type of injunctive relief the plaintiff seeks.”

 

True the Vote tried during a court hearing last month to argue that the loss of emails was “spoliation” and that it “will face irreparable injury to the fair adjudication of its claims — and consequently, its constitutional rights — if critical electronic information is not recovered and preserved.”

Spoliation is the purposeful destruction of evidence or failure to record information to hide something.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/irs-tea-party-emails-109821.html?hp=r3

[Cyber_Liberty]

 

Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court in Washington ruled that the conservative group, True the Vote, had provided no evidence that the IRS had already intentionally destroyed evidence or would do so in the future.

I wasn't aware Federal Judges employed sarcasm.

[clearvision]

Quite an interesting judge... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggie_Walton

[SrWoodchuck]

:

A federal judge on Thursday delivered an early setback to a conservative group’s lawsuit against the IRS, denying a request to allow an independent expert to search for former agency official Lois Lerner’s missing emails.

 

Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court in Washington ruled that the conservative group, True the Vote, had provided no evidence that the IRS had already intentionally destroyed evidence or would do so in the future.

 

He added that approving True the Vote’s request could jeopardize the confidentiality of taxpayer information, and complicate the efforts of an inspector general currently investigating what happened to Lerner’s emails.

 

“The public interest weighs strongly against the type of injunctive relief the plaintiff seeks,” Walton, a George W. Bush nominee, wrote in his 17-page opinion filed Thursday.

 

Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer for True the Vote, on Thursday downplayed the significance of Walton’s ruling, saying the judge had only rejected their request for expedited assistance.

The government has asked the court to dismiss True the Vote’s lawsuit, a request that Mitchell said could be ruled on shortly. If Walton allows the suit to continue, Mitchell said that True the Vote would have other opportunities to get the independent forensic expert and other relief it requested.

 

 

Judge Reggie:

 

Presided over & sentenced Scooter Libby....and has had favorable rulings for Gitmo detainees. Appointed by W.

 

[Valin]

Meanwhile back at the ranch......Old Judge Emmet

 

Judge Prods IRS on Effort to Save Lois Lerners E-Mail

 

A federal judge asked the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for more information on efforts it made to recover missing e-mail from the computer of an agency official at the heart of a quarrel between Congress and the Obama administration over scrutiny of Tea Party organizations.

 

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivans order today giving the IRS until Aug. 22 to come up with further details on what it did to retrieve e-mail from the malfunctioning computer of Lois Lerner signals his dissatisfaction with the agencys earlier explanation, contained in an Aug. 11 filing.

 

The order comes in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the activist group Judicial Watch. The complaint seeks Lerners e-mail and other communications concerning the processing of applications for tax-exempt status.

 

(Snip)

[Valin]

We still don't know why Lois Lerner's Blackberry was wiped clean.
T. Becket Adams
September 5, 2014



As lawmakers return to Washington to continue the search for thousands of missing subpoenaed emails related to the Internal Revenue Service's alleged targeting of conservative groups, questions abound.

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.


(Snip)


I could take a WAG as to why.

[Cyber_Liberty]

Oops.