Federal Judge Threatens to Haul IRS Commissioner Into Court, but Has Equally Harsh Words for Trial Lawyer

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The Blaze:

A federal judge not only threatened to hold IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in contempt if the agency didn’t provide documents in the manner ordered by the court, but he issued the same strong warning to his lawyer as well.

 

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan — during a status call for the case involving the IRS singling out tea party and conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 elections — said that he was “not going to tolerate further noncompliance with the court’s orders.”

 

“If there is further noncompliance, I will haul into court the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service to show cause why that person should not be personally held in contempt of court,” Sullivan said Wednesday, according to minutes posted by Judicial Watch.

 

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Federal Judge Threatens to Haul IRS Commissioner Into Court, but Has Equally Harsh Words for Trial Lawyer

Jul. 30, 2015 10:20am Liz Klimas

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A federal judge not only threatened to hold IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in contempt if the agency didn’t provide documents in the manner ordered by the court, but he issued the same strong warning to his lawyer as well.

 

U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan — during a status call for the case involving the IRS singling out tea party and conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 elections — said that he was “not going to tolerate further noncompliance with the court’s orders.”

 

“If there is further noncompliance, I will haul into court the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service to show cause why that person should not be personally held in contempt of court,” Sullivan said Wednesday, according to minutes posted by Judicial Watch.

 

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen testifies before the Senate Judiciary's Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts Subcommittee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill July 29, 2015 in Washington, DC. Koskinen continued to face questions about alleged IRS targeting of political groups for extra scrutiny when applying for tax-exempt status. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen testifies before the Senate Judiciary’s Oversight, Agency Action, Federal Rights and Federal Courts Subcommittee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill July 29, 2015 in Washington, DC. Koskinen continued to face questions about alleged IRS targeting of political groups for extra scrutiny when applying for tax-exempt status. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Trial Attorney Geoffrey Klimas (no relation to this reporter) and Sullivan went back and forth regarding the details of why the IRS had not complied. Klimas said the agency planned to “file a motion to reconsider” the order that the IRS “needed to increase the frequency within which it was producing documents” based on it being “burdensome [...] to do weekly productions rather than monthly productions.”

 

From Sullivan’s stance, without the agency filing a motion to reconsider the order, “there’s no reason for not complying.”

 

“This is ridiculous. This is absurd,” Sullivan said of the situation.

 

Sullivan went on, saying that while it’s within his legal authority to hold them in contempt, he wasn’t going to do it at this time, noting that going forward he expected full compliance. He added that if they were now to file a motion to reduce production to biweekly, he would deny it.

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Putting arrogance in its place. And have a nice day.