IRS gave confidential tax payer info on conservative groups to FEC

Daily Caller:

A conservative government watchdog says it has obtained emails revealing that the Internal Revenue Service sent conservative groups’ private tax exemption application and tax return information to the Federal Elections Commission, in violation of federal law.

According to Judicial Watch, the emails from Jan. 2009 to the present, provided by the FEC in response to an August 2013 Freedom of Information Act request, yielded a “revealing email chain” between former Internal Revenue Services (IRS) Director of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner and enforcement attorneys at the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Judicial Watch explains that in one email exchange beginning on Feb 2, 2009, an FEC attorney requests information about the American Future Fund’s (AFF) tax-exempt status from Lerner.

“When we spoke last July, you told us that the American Future Fund had not received an exemption letter from the IRS,” the attorney, whose name is redacted, writes. Later in the email the attorney asks Lerner whether the IRS had granted tax exemption to American Issues Project (AIP) and AIP’s predecessor organizations: Citizens for the Republic (CFTR) and Avenger, Inc. (AIP).

Ten minutes later that same day, Lerner indicated she would cooperate.

“I have sent your email out to some of my staff. Will get back to you as soon as I have heard from them,” she wrote according to Judicial Watch.

The watchdog explained that the FIOA request also uncovered “extensive materials from the IRS’ files sent from Lerner to the FEC containing detailed, confidential information about the organizations.”
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There will probably have to be a special prosecutor to do something about this, because it is unlikely that the Obama DOJ will vigorously prosecute these apparent violations.  But Lois Learner probably has more incentive to cut a deal now.