Official linked to Obama-era scandal now heads ethics at IRS
An official linked to the controversial IRS targeting of conservative groups during the Obama governance is now the acting director of the IRSS ethics office. Elizabeth Kastenberg, who played a role in scrutinizing conservative nonprofits seeking tax-exempt status, is now responsible for overseeing ethical standards within the agency. Alongside her is Jacqueline Bennett, who has publicly criticized the conservative movement and made disparaging comparisons between the Trump administration and the nazi regime. Both Kastenberg and Bennett are part of a leadership team within the IRS that maintains a liberal political bias. Evidence suggests Kastenberg was aware of politically motivated targeting of conservative groups as early as 2011. The article also highlights ongoing concerns about the political leanings of IRS leadership following the transition to the Biden administration.
IRS official linked to Obama-era targeting scandal now heads ethics office — with deputy who compared Trump to Hitler
EXCLUSIVE — An official involved in the Obama-era Internal Revenue Service scandal, which involved IRS officials singling out conservative groups for increased scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status, is now the acting director of the agency’s ethics watchdog department.
Elizabeth Kastenberg, the new acting director of the IRS’s Office of Professional Responsibility, was directly involved in the Obama administration’s audit of conservative nonprofit organizations, which prevented them from taking part in the 2012 election, according to new research compiled by the American Accountability Foundation and obtained exclusively by the Washington Examiner. Katsenberg worked to find ways to deny tax-exempt status to groups linked to the Tea Party movement and even admitted that the agency’s behavior was politically motivated.
In addition to Kastenberg, Jacqueline Bennett, a supervisory legal administrative specialist, is listed as a member of the office’s “management team.” Bennett has a history of making social media posts critical of the conservative movement, including at least one instance where she compared the United States under the Trump administration to Germany under the Nazi Party.
Bennett and Kastenberg comprise two of the four individuals tasked with leading the IRS’s ethics office. Together, they are responsible for “ensuring all tax practitioners, tax preparers, and other third parties in the tax system adhere to professional standards and follow the law.”
Even after the transfer of power between former President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump in January, many leadership positions in the IRS continued to be occupied by liberals. For instance, the Washington Examiner reported in April that 60% of individuals occupying leadership positions in the IRS’s commissioner and deputy commissioner’s offices had supported liberal causes, either financially or through statements. Further reporting found that a major IRS division is led by Holly Paz, another individual implicated in the Obama-era IRS targeting controversy, alongside other critics of the president.
Kastenberg’s involvement in the Obama-era controversy is corroborated by 2013 congressional testimony from an IRS agent who worked under her. The testimony states that she was in charge of reviewing audits on right-leaning groups and that she was in the room with senior leadership when decisions relevant to the controversy were made.
A House Oversight Committee report released in December 2014 found that Kastenberg had been directed by a senior staffer working underneath Lois Lerner, who ultimately resigned over her role in the targeting controversy, to develop a justification to deny tax-exempt status to Tea Party groups.
Kastenberg was aware that politically motivated targeting was occurring at the IRS as early as 2011.
“These cases are held back primarily because of their political party affiliation rather than specifically any political activities,” she wrote to colleagues in April of that year.
The Trump administration has made some moves to purge IRS officials who appear out of step with its agenda. In May, left-leaning IRS spokeswoman Jodie Reynolds, who had worked at the agency for 27 years, was removed from her post. Reynolds had a history of making and liking posts critical of Trump on social media.
TOP IRS DIVISION APPEARS PACKED WITH ANTI-TRUMP OFFICIALS
In addition to comparing Trump to Adolf Hitler, Bennett, the other ethics department manager, also posted content accusing the president of being a psychopath, disclosed attending multiple anti-Trump protests, and defended liberal legal activism aimed at undermining the administration’s agenda, AAF’s research found. AAF is a right-of-center nonprofit organization that compiles research and conducts oversight of the federal government while receiving funding from conservative grant makers such as the Club for Growth and Donors Trust.
The IRS did not respond to a request for comment.
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