Paul Ryan Slams IRS Commissioner For Lost Emails: "I Don't Believe You!"

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen appeared before the House Ways and Means Committee today as part of the committee's investigation into the IRS for targeting conservative tax-exempt groups for extra scrutiny.

The appearance came a week after the agency informed congressional investigators that it had lost emails from Lois Lerner, a central figure in the investigation, in a hard drive crash, and could not produce documents from six other employees as well—despite having known that the records were lost since February. 

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was not pleased, accusing the IRS of a "pattern of abuse" with regards to the investigation. "I don't believe you," Ryan said. 

Watch the clip below. 

Comments

[Sevo]

And if it is true, who gets called for destroying evidence?

[Old Man With Candy]

That's OK, Paul, we don't believe you, either.

[The Tone Police]

I don't even understand what this means.

[Old Man With Candy]

This is the same asshole who voted for TARP, the GM "bailout", and Medicare D while claiming to be an advocate of fiscal responsibility. Oh, and No Child Left Behind.

He's a lying scumbag.

[The Tone Police]

Oh cool story. I mean hey why bother with IRS corruption? The wrong people are investigating so fuck it.

[Suthenboy]

That gives Koskinen credibility?

[Old Man With Candy]

Where do you get the idea that if Ryan is a lying scumbag that Koskinen isn't? Is it an either/or? Don't we have a term for this" False dichotomy? Isn't it OK to believe that there are no good guys here?

[JW]

Isn't it OK to believe that there are no good guys here?

Yep. I'll give him a pass when he uses his powers for good.

[Zing]

Sure, but none of that really has anything to do with your original stupid ass post.

[Old Man With Candy]

Fuck off, Mary/Tulpa/miscellaneous shit-for-brains troll.

[Old Man With Candy]

Sorry, wrong comment. Here's what I meant to say:

They don't run in packs. While they may not be as strong as apes, don't lock eyes with them don't do it, it puts them on edge. It might put them into berserker mode and they'll come at you like a whirling dervish, all fists and elbows"

You may be screaming no no no, but all they hear is 'who wants cake?

[Zing]

Truth hurts huh?

[Old Man With Candy]

Ah, it's short, so probably Tulpa.

[Zing]

What the fuck is wrong with you? You make a stupid non-sequitur post that a dozen people point out is a stupid non-sequitur but I'm your whipping boy for some reason?

Get herpes you sad old fuck.

[jesse.in.mb]

a dozen people

The Tone Police
Zing

Counting, how does it work?

[The Tone Police]

It's fine to believe that. That doesn't mean you need to shoehorn in irrelevancies.

[Old Man With Candy]

It's completely relevant. He's a lying sack of shit. If his mouth is moving, he's lying.

[Restoras]

If his mouth is moving, he's lying

This is all politicians.

If he can advance his career as a lying politician by taking down the lying IRS, I'll take it.

[Old Man With Candy]

"Is there a way for both of them to lose?"

[JWatts]

Tu Quoque is calling.

[Raston Bot]

and didn't that GM plant in his district close after he voted for the bailout? classic.

[jmomls]

No, it closed after Obama was elected, which was shortly after he went to Janesville and told everyone [e.g., the union goons present at his rally] that if they voted for him and he was elected, the plant would be open for a hundred more years.

[Warren's Strapon]

And if I lived in his district, I wouldn't vote for him. That doesn't mean I don't want him to nail the IRS to a wall on this.

[sarcasmic]

while claiming to be an advocate of fiscal responsibility.

Fiscal responsibility means lowering taxes. It has nothing to do with spending.

The GOP is the party of compassionate conservatism. That means bigger government, lower taxes, and opposition to abortion.

[WTF]

Almost. It means raising taxes more slowly than the Democrats might have.

[The Late P Brooks]

"Believe what you want, Congressman. You ain't never gonna see those e-mails. They're GONE."

[Pro Libertate]

Someone needs to be subpoenaing the fuck out of everything. Personal e-mails and documents, recipient e-mails and documents, trash, everything. It's clear there's a cover-up, and we need to know who and what.

[Tman]

"If Lerner destroyed her hard drive, odds are nearly 100 percent that she Googled instructions for doing so from either her home or work computer. I've heard it suggested that her Google searches from June 2011 might be recoverable with a subpoena."

http://www.bloombergview.com/a.....likely-yet

[Tonio]

No, too complimacated for her. Probably she had the IT guys do it. As I said on the previous thread on this topic this all comes down to a bunch of people afraid they'll lose their jobs and pensions.

The only way the truth will out is if someone is more motivated to tell the truth than to cover it up.

[Sevo]

"The only way the truth will out is if someone is more motivated to tell the truth than to cover it up."

*IF* the FBI starts leaning on X person, that person *will* start talking about Y person if there is a hint it will keep them out of jail.
It works that way most always and that's what sunk Nixon.

[Tony]

There are emails between her and IT talking about the hard drive failure. Save your saliva.

[WTF]

And her hard drive failing wouldn't lose the emails on the exchange server, moron.

[DesigNate]

Slurp

[Bill Dalasio]

Exactly. Anyone remember Spitzer's treatment of the banks? Congress needs to put the IRS through that little wringer. Every last document, email, expense report, IM, personal e-mail, you name it is under investigation. And anything, and I mean anything, legal or illegal, that might prove embarassing to the IRS, or any of its staff, is fair game to be leaked to public. At the end of something like that, the IRS would be begging to turn over Ms. Lerner's e-mails.

[Pope Jimbo]

If I were them, I'd say "We were looking for e-mails between Lerner and members of Congress, since her e-mails are no longer available in her inbox, we will have to reconstruct it by poring over backups of each member of Congress' inbox."

If they sent e-mail to or from her, there should be a copy in their inbox. Go for it.

And just like with all other investigations, feel free to expand the investigation way beyond the original scope based on anything juicy that comes up.

[Pro Libertate]

And prosecute everyone they dig up dirt on.

[Bill Dalasio]

Like I said, I wouldn't much care whether the dirt was prosecutable or not. If so, prosecute. If not, just leak to embarass. Yes, it's a dick move. But, so is witholding evidence.

[Mad Scientist]

I'll be shocked if that happens. Voters may not understand the iron law, but politicians do. They won't string the IRS up because they don't want to be strung up themselves later on.

[Pro Libertate]

Yes, I suspect you're 100% correct. Getting a lame speaker shows where the GOP is headed--to mild protest.

[Restoras]

^This, unfortunately.

The Dumbocrats are spinning and apolgizing furiously becasue they are the party of government,and antyhing that threatens government power is a threat to them. Same for the Republicans, except a little bit less so.

[JW]

Maybe we could prosecute the entire department, like they did with Arthur Anderson.

[Rich]

This. Get to the bottom of it, and keep digging more.

[Brandon]

John Koskinen may be the worst person in existence. The absolute epitome of arrogant, unaccountable, smug bureaucrat.

[WTF]

Because he knows he will absolutely not be held accountable in any meaningful way.

[Drake]

So punchable,so in need of tar, feathers, and a rail.

[Restoras]

Punchable? I had soemthing else in mind.

[jmomls]

Mussolini headkick.

[Bill Dalasio]

Well, subpoena his wife's records. And his kids. And his parents. And any siblings. Guarantee, you start subjecting these bastards to the treatmet they dish out, they won't be so smug.

[Pro Libertate]

They'll just refuse to comply. Constitutional crisis, here we come.

[WTF]

And the media will crucify the cruel republicans for attacking their innocent families who are not a part of this!

[Tonio]

And they would be right. Sorry, but going after family members when they are not connected to the scandal is straight out of Stalin or North Korea. We have to be better than that.

[Bill Dalasio]

Tell you what, Tonio, try getting audited by the IRS and telling me how sacrosanct the families of the accused are.

The boat you're claiming sailed a long, long time ago.

[The Tone Police]

Wrong. Those family records could contain evidence.

[Restoras]

I don't disagree with you Tonio but in those instances it was people against the government that would be subject to that treatment, not the government itself as in this case.

[Warren's Strapon]

Here's the one thing I haven't figured out: if he thought he might be criminally investigated, he'd take the fifth. So either he knows he's protected in a way that Lerner isn't, or he's not nearly as smart as Lerner. I'm trying to figure out the gameplans on that.

[WTF]

He knows the democrats will go to the mat to protect him. Probably because if he cracks, their whole pile of bullshit comes tumbling down and lands in Obama's lap.

[WTF]

Because he knows he will absolutely not be held accountable.

[WTF]

Fucking SKWERLS!

[Pro Libertate]

I used to like him for his role in Fletch, but fuck that. He sucks.

[Old Man With Candy]

In a world that contains Clapper, he can't possibly be the worst person in existence.

[Warren's Strapon]

Stephanie Cutter.

[BiMonSciFiCon]

DWS.

[Sevo]

The link is too long. Do a Bing search for "Nixon's secretary losing the 18-1/2 minutes"
It is appropriate.

[Hugh Akston]

Stop trying to make Bing happen. It's not going to happen.

[jesse.in.mb]

They have a good airfare search feature.

[Hugh Akston]

That would be great if there was anywhere worth going and any airline that was halfway decent and any way to fly without having your Fourth Amendment rights violated.

[Sevo]

A bit pissy today?

[jesse.in.mb]

Amsterdam, KLM, TSA Pre-Check

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

You're assuming that Hugh would want to go to Europe and bang a bunch of dudes.
NTTAWWT

[jesse.in.mb]

You're assuming that Hugh would want to go to Europe and bang a bunch of dudes.

Doesn't everyone?

I suppose he could want to go to Europe and bang a bunch of women who look like Doutzen Kroes, but that would just be weird.

[Sevo]

Just tried in in Google; same result.

[WTF]

Stop trying to make Bing happen. It's not going to happen.

+1 Fetch

[Episiarch]

I've been wondering when someone in the GOP would finally take the advantage this offers them. It's an egregious case, compounded with clumsy ass-covering that anyone with a shred of integrity would admit is ridiculous. They can make TEAM BLUE defend the indefensible. And there's no down side; how do you spin this against the GOP and TEAM RED other than the incredibly weak "fake scandal!"?

This is one of the best opportunities handed to TEAM RED in a long time, and it still took one of them this long to start using it. Washington really is just made up of TEAM BE RULED, isn't it.

[Tman]

All that being true, Team Blue showed their contempt for US taxpayers when they asked Koskinen if Lerner was in Benghazi.

Yes, really.

[WTF]

Well if that isn't just a blatant "fuck you, because you can't touch us" I don't know what is. The fuckers should be strung up.

[Tman]

"Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, asked if Lerner had been to the Benghazi, whether she was responsible for UFOs, or if she had custody of Obama's original birth certificate."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/...../11044465/

[WTF]

FAKE SKANDULZ!!!!11!!!

Look for the media to play this up along the lines of "Oh, those silly Republicans really should get mocked for taking this seriously".

[Brandon]

Jesus Christ, that POS should've been dragged out of the room and beaten for that.

[Rasilio]

The funny thing is even if the IRS was not illegally targeting Tea Party groups the loss of emails in an of itself is major scandal. Court precedent is clear, no crime needs to have been committed for you to spend years in jail for obstruction of justice, which is exactly what losing the emails is. Just ask Martha Stewart.

Hell if I were Martha and no criminal prosecutions resulted from this I might just file a civil rights suit against the government for unequal treatment under the law.

[WTF]

I might just file a civil rights suit against the government for unequal treatment under the law.

Good luck with that. We already know laws do not apply to the Masters. And then the government would find pretense to investigate her and her businesses by way of retaliation.

We ceased to be a nation of laws quite some time ago. This is just the blatant FYTW cherry on top of the shit cake.

[JWatts]

"And then the government would find pretense to investigate her and her businesses by way of retaliation."

You mean they might use the power of some government agency to punish those they disagree with?

[DJF]

NPR is pushing the excuse that the poor government is not getting enough money because of the evil Republicans so they have old equipment which causd this loss of E-mail

[Ivan Pike]

Because giving them more money for computer systems will fix it.

History of Bungling

The agency has a history of problems with information technology projects. Since 1995, the IRS's systems modernization efforts have been designated "high risk" and subject to extra scrutiny by the GAO.

In the late 1990s the IRS abandoned a technology upgrade, called the Tax System Modernization plan, after spending $2.5 billion, according to congressional testimony by J. Russell George, the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration.

Early efforts to build a database in the current modernization program were plagued by delays, prompting sharp criticism of CSC, the main contractor at the time. In 2003 Commissioner Mark Everson, disturbed by missed deadlines, ordered an outside review of the contract.

A year later, the delays led the IRS to pull a $40 million chunk of the contract from CSC.

[DJF]

Why must you cloud the narrative with facts!!!!!

[Ivan Pike]

Why must you cloud the narrative with facts!!!!!

I know you are joking, but crap like this pisses me off. Incidents like this make everyone who works for government* look bad. String them all up.

*yes, I work for the fedgov.

[DJF]

I know it won't be popular here but I have actually meet people in the government who do a good a job as the rules allow and sometime cross the rules to do an even better job. I have also seen some in the next desk over who seem to spend either all their effort not working or even worse making the peoples life worse.

Unfortunately the second group is the ones usually promoted, the first group are trouble makers

[Pro Libertate]

I saw the same thing when I was a fellow. Plenty of the people I worked with were competent (and a few were, surprisingly, quite libertarian--go figure), but the political appointees and their lapdogs were something else.

[Ivan Pike]

I know it won't be popular here but I have actually meet people in the government who do a good a job as the rules allow and sometime cross the rules to do an even better job. I have also seen some in the next desk over who seem to spend either all their effort not working or even worse making the peoples life worse.

Unfortunately the second group is the ones usually promoted, the first group are trouble makers

You are correct, but take any large (50k+ ee's) and you will have the same thing, in or out of government. And as Pro says below, the appointees are normally atrocious.

[Pro Libertate]

First of all, an e-mail server isn't something complicated like a giant revenge matrix.

Second, isn't it rather telling, everything else aside, that this is coming out now and not months ago?

[Sevo]

"Second, isn't it rather telling, everything else aside, that this is coming out now and not months ago?"

That missing 18-1/2 minutes didn't turn up missing until the tape was subpoenaed.

[Pro Libertate]

I suppose it could be plausible not to know about that, even though I'm sure it was intentionally deleted, but a wholesale loss of senior official e-mails? No one knew that? That's not even slightly believable.

[JWatts]

And no one got the backup copies off of the servers at the time the hard drive crashed?

Seriously, this is just a complete case of "We are above the Law".

[CatoTheElder]

It seems to me that the IRS has a pretty sophisticated backup and retention systems and procedures.

In my experience it would be very difficult to be certain that all electronic copies of e-mail deleted in a case like Lerner's.

All they had to do was wipe Lerner's hard drive and -- poof! -- all was gone without a trace.

[Drake]

Well, telling him we know he's a lying bag of shit right to his face is a good start. Forcing every IT Director in the IRS to testify under oath and prosecuting any who lie or violated federal law by not retaining the e-mails is step 2.

Destroying this shitbag's life and maybe putting him jail would be a great extra benefit.

[datcv]

And threaten their IT contracts (I would bet that a lot of the IT is outsourced, because god knows the government is too incompetent to do any actual real work themselves, they just outsource it).

[Shirley Knott]

It's not so much that they are incompetent as the contracts are part of the "masked" payola that goes on between government and business. It is not in the interests of high-level government bureaucrats to have the talent in-house; they can't leverage that for payoffs to favored companies.

[WTF]

Destroying this shitbag's life and maybe putting him jail would be a great extra benefit.

Never gonna happen. The Democrats will protect him at all costs, lest he give up information that leads to The One.

[What's that smell?]

Calm down will you all! Damn it these are THE RIGHT PEOPLE soooo it OK. Now just tune into Game of Thrones, jeck-off and STFU

[Rasilio]

With Ygrette and Shae dead and no more Naked Danyeris who is left to fap to on GOT?

[MJGreen]

No more Ros, either. Although Missandei is picking up the slack left by Dany, so it's not a total loss there.

[MJGreen]

Wooo, time warp...

[Game of Thrones fan]

You still have Hodor's penis.

[Pro Libertate]

Named "Hodor."

[WTF]

HODOR!

[Warren's Strapon]

Melisandre. And extras.

[Drake]

There ought to be some hot Dornish chicks next season.

[WTF]

The Sand Snakes.

[David Wall]

Repubs need to start openly suggesting its time to find an alternative to raising taxes rather than having an IRS.

That will get the arrogant pricks' attention.

[PRX]

waterboard that motherfucker

[David Wall]

On C-Span. Good start.

[Tony]

What a fucking nothing sandwich. Can't these idiots come up with a real scandal? God knows they spend pretty much all their time looking for one. Once Republican officeholders started drinking the FOX kool-aid that keeps their sheep in line, it was inevitably gonna be a self-reinforcing suck of idiocy.

Multiple people lost their jobs over this. The FBI found no criminal wrongdoing. This is mostly teabaggers whining like babies about what victims they are, which is of course what they're best at.

[mplspolitics]

Were you circling the wagons when Bush lost the torture emails? Of course not, because you're an immoral piece of shit.

This is about accountability. Of course you understand how nearly impossible it is to lose emails in this fashion, you're just pretending it's not a big deal because you're more interested in PRINCIPALS, not PRINCIPLES.

Go fuck your self you mendacious fucking twat.

[Shirley Knott]

So failure to follow data retention policies that have the force of law is not an issue? How many perp walks have we seen of business people crucified for not having the data they are required to keep and keep secure?

'Multiple people lost their jobs over this'? Name four.
The FBI found no criminal wrongdoing. Wasn't that their result for Watergate as well?

[CatoTheElder]

Wasn't Arthur Anderson, the accountancy that audited Enron, utterly destroyed for similar obstruction of justice?

And they were just defrauding investors -- the IRS was actively interfering with the basic liberties of the Administration's political opponents.

"The FBI found no wrongdoing" because the FBI did not investigate. Otherwise, we'd have learned about e-mail coverup a long time ago.

[Tonio]

Tonester, when you've lost Shirley...

[Ivan Pike]

Tonio, thought you might find this interesting:

LOIS LERNER'S EMAILS ? A FORMER IRS IT SPECIALIST'S TAKE

Powerline

[Sevo]

It'll be ignored as biased, but...

[Idle Hands]

lol.

[WTF]

And here comes shitbird to bring the derp. We already know what talking points the democrats are going with to try to cover this up. I don't think even you are stupid enough to really believe that they just accidentally managed to lose all those emails, for the timeframe exactly in question. You really are a pathetic TEAM BLUE shit.

Just remember the Iron Law, moron: Today me, tomorrow you.

FOADIAF

[Sevo]

Tony|6.20.14 @ 1:02PM|#
..."Can't these idiots come up with a real scandal?"...

Yeah, that break-in at DNC was just a second-rate effort by some small fry, right, you slimy piece of shit?

[Rasilio]

Um, Tony. Losing emails subject to an active ongoing Congressional investigation is in itself a bigger crime than the alleged IRS targeting of Tea Party Groups.

It is literally the biggest crime publicly acknowledged by our government since Watergate. Bigger than Iran Contra, bigger than Monica's dress. Private citizens are routinely jailed for far lower offenses and there are additional laws for data retention that government agencies are required to follow which do not pertain to private citizens.

The moment they said the emails were lost people need to be going to jail. Even if the original investigation is total bogus bullshit the IRS's inability to produce the emails in question is a major fucking felony.

Don't believe me, ask Scooter Libby and Martha Stewart. Both went to jail for misremembering conversations that took place years earlier about subjects which were ruled to not be crimes.

[sarcasmic]

Don't believe me, ask Scooter Libby and Martha Stewart.

They're Republicans. They deserved it for being Republicans.

This is a fake scandal because everyone involved is a Democrat.

That's all you need to know.

[Tony]

People should go to jail because a hard drive fails? Aren't we talking about allegations about obstruction? Let them prove it and I'll agree with you.

[mplspolitics]

Fuck you. They tossed the hard drive and then claimed they would be able to furnish the emails havin prior knowledge of them being DESTROYED.

Losing any data in regards to an investigation or Congressional inquiry is a big fucking deal.

Jesus tap dancing Christ you're a slimy piece of shit.

[Zing]

People should go to jail because a hard drive fails?

When they're legally required to be prepared for that eventuality and aren't?

Yeah.

Aren't we talking about allegations about obstruction?

Not really, it could just as easily be a discussion about compliance.

[Tonio]

No, Tony, this isn't about equipment failure, it's about obstruction of justice, lying to congress under oath, etc.

Is that the stench of fear I smell? Good.

[sarcasmic]

No, Tony, this isn't about equipment failure, it's about obstruction of justice, lying to congress under oath, etc.

Clinton wasn't impeached for lying under oath! He was impeached for getting a blowjob! Not for committing a crime! For getting a blowjob!

These IRS people aren't targeted for destroying evidence, for failing to back it up as procedure demands, and for lying about it! They're being targeted because a hard drive failed! Not for committing a crime! For having a hard drive fail!

LALALALALAAAA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALALAAA!

[Tony]

It's disturbing when people want their government to have been engaged in wrongdoing. Especially people who claim to have no partisan interest.

This is about a partisan witch hunt. The fact that House Republicans think we are paying them for the sole job of trying to find a plausible reason to impeach the president should be the real scandal.

[MJGreen]

It's disturbing when people want their government to have been engaged in wrongdoing.

Yep, he's afraid. This is laughable.

[WTF]

I know, it's pathetic. It's obvious even 'Tony' doesn't really believe his own bullshit. As though wanting the people who broke the law and violated people's rights to be held accountable means the same thing as wanting the government to have been engaged in wrongdoing. No, dumbass, we just want them to held accountable for the wrongdoing they obviously committed.

[mplspolitics]

"It's disturbing when people want their government to have been engaged in wrongdoing. Especially people who claim to have no partisan interest."

The only disturbing thing is that wrongdoing is selectively acknowledged by shitheads like you.

[Sevo]

Tony|6.20.14 @ 2:40PM|#
"It's disturbing when people want their government to have been engaged in wrongdoing"

Folks, I did not fiddle with that at ALL! Our resident slimy turd posted those exact words.

[Tony]

So you are saying it's good to want your government to engage in wrongdoing? What possible reason could you have for that?

[Sevo]

Tony|6.20.14 @ 8:03PM|#
"So you are saying it's good to want your government to engage in wrongdoing? What possible reason could you have for that?"

Again, his exact words; I did not alter them in any way.

[Whahappan?]

So you're saying it's good for your government to engage in wrongdoing, as long as it's Democrats engaging in wrongdoing to harm Republicans? What possible reason could you have for that?

[WTF]

Still pretending to believe the obvious lies, you lying shit stain? Go jump up your own ass.

[Michael]

People should go to jail because a hard drive fails?

No, you shitbag. They should go to jail when they wantonly destroy evidence in an ongoing investigation. HDDs fail all the time, but are completely recoverable in the majority of instances. It could take something as simple as the old "freezer trick" all the way up to swapping platters, but that data CAN BE AND OFTEN IS EFFECTIVELY RETRIEVED. You'd think that an organization as monumentally important as the IRS would be well aware of this and wouldn't simply just toss a disk containing two years worth of vital records into the shredder when it starts emitting the click of death.

Do you want to regale us with some more of your delightful commentary? Remember that more than a few of us here are IT professionals, you stupid fuck.

[lap83]

Speaking of babies... you can pout and stomp your feet all you want but, sooner or later, your buddies will have to face the consequences of their bankrupt morality. Even if it gets worse before it gets better, which it probably will, they're not going to get away with this forever.

[Ivan Pike]

The FBI found no criminal wrongdoing.

Then they didn't look.

18 U.S. Code ? 2071 - Concealment, removal, or mutilation generally

(a)Whoever willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, or destroys, or attempts to do so, or, with intent to do so takes and carries away any record, proceeding, map, book, paper, document, or other thing, filed or deposited with any clerk or officer of any court of the United States, or in any public office, or with any judicial or public officer of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
(b) Whoever, having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States. As used in this subsection, the term "office" does not include the office held by any person as a retired officer of the Armed Forces of the United States.

[Whahappan?]

If I'm not mistaken, they literally declared there was no wrongdoing even before they investigated.

[Sevo]

"Multiple people lost their jobs over this."
A janitor, a security guard and someone retired.

[Joe M]

This whole thing makes me vomit tears of rage.

[Warty]

Is there anyone who believes her? I don't think even the hackiest TEAM BLUE hack can honestly claim to believe this transparent lie.

[David Wall]

Her? Koskinen looks like a plump, middle age man. Could be wrong, though.

[Warty]

Yes, my mistake. But he looks like a dying old man to me, so your mistake is objectively worse.

[BakedPenguin]

Warty reserves the right to not recognize anyone with only one Y chromosome as male.

[Warty]

That too.

[Mad Scientist]

Tony wants to believe.

[gimmeasammich]

Obviously you missed Tony's post just upthread.

[WTF]

But it's a FAKE SCANDUL!!11!! That's why they are destroying evidence and covering up and taking the Fifth - because there's nothing to hide!

[Tony]

No evidence anyone destroyed anything. Taking the Fifth is exactly what people targeted as a part of a witch hunt (in which, before any evidence was presented, the speaker of the house said he wanted to see someone go to jail) should do.

[sarcasmic]

No evidence anyone destroyed anything.

When evidence is destroyed, there tends to not be any evidence of it. Why? Because it was destroyed. That's what destroying evidence means.

[Tony]

Thus we must assume guilt.

[Sevo]

Tony|6.20.14 @ 7:52PM|#
"Thus we must assume guilt."
If the person has failed to maintain the records as required, why, yes, they are guilty of that.
That wasn't too difficult for you, was it?

[MJGreen]

Their admission that they destroyed the hard drive is not evidence that they destroyed anything?

[WTF]

I guess the 'lost' emails that can't plausibly be lost unless they were deliberately destroyed doesn't count as evidence in Tony-world. Fuck you Tony, you dishonest fuck.

[Tony]

I don't think there was anything to hide so I don't know why they'd deliberately destroy emails and stupidly open themselves up to even more bullshit.

[Sevo]

Tony|6.20.14 @ 8:02PM|#
"I don't think there was anything to hide so I don't know why they'd deliberately destroy emails and stupidly open themselves up to even more bullshit."

So your ignorance is supposed proof there was nothing to hide?
And you realize that the question now is failure to maintain records, right?

[Pro Libertate]

No, I'd say it's save to say that this is too implausible for "belief." That won't, of course, stop partisans who don't care about anything but their party from pretending that a whole lot of bad facts are "nothing."

I think our politics and our government in general would be vastly improved if everyone held elected officials, appointees, and bureaucrats to reasonable standards of conduct. If a libertarian were spewing this bullshit, I'd not believe him either. Or do Democrats have lower ethical and moral standards than libertarians?

[Pro Libertate]

Oops, "safe to say."

[WDATPDIM!?]

Lie, shmie. What's the big deal? So some nutjob teabagger groups had to wait a few extra months to get approved. It's not as if they were actually going to do some good for society. Let's move on.

And those dead people at Waco were just a bunch crazy Christers brainwashed by a Joseph Smith wannabe. If they didn't want to get roasted, they shouldn't've had all those guns. No harm no foul.

/Team Blue

[sarcasmic]

Since when did anyone on the left actually care about being honest? It's all about winning and getting away with stuff. So it doesn't matter if she's lying. She's winning and getting away with it. That's what matters.

[Whahappan?]

And they're completely upfront with this.

[PRX]

the best part is that these assholes will be shocked to be the first up against the wall the second Obama decides he needs to save his own ass. he doesn't have Nixon's sense of loyalty.

[Suthenboy]

This, and Tony's post above, go to show that there is nothing these shitbags won't do. Nothing is too far over the line for them.

[WTF]

Because they keep getting away wit it. It will just keep getting worse until they have to face actual serious consequences.

[Tony]

They keep getting away with it because Republicans keep failing to turn up any actual wrongdoing. They spend literally all their time trying to take down the president. Why are they so bad at it?

[sarcasmic]

Why are they so bad at it?

We don't call them the stupid party because they're smart.

[WTF]

Actually, he's just proving your earlier point:

sarcasmic|6.20.14 @ 2:17PM|#

Since when did anyone on the left actually care about being honest? It's all about winning and getting away with stuff. So it doesn't matter if she's lying. She's winning and getting away with it. That's what matters.

[WTF]

They keep getting away with it because the democrats refuse to hold their fellow democrats accountable for law-breaking, no matter how blatant. So long as the democrats control the Senate and the executive branch, it will not change. Although I'm sure Tony will shriek with indignity when the republicans take control and pull the same shit, based on the precedent that's being set. Yet Tony thinks this is a good thing because he's too stupid to understand the consequences of a completely lawless government.

[waffles]

What is said over and over about watergate? It wasn't the crime, it was the coverup that did the damage. Here we are seeing the coverup.

[WTF]

That was different, because they were republicans.
/Tony

Maybe 'Tony' might take note of the fact that during Watergate the republicans were willing to join the democrats in holding Nixon accountable, rather than obstructing at all costs for partisan goals.

[Tony]

Clearly they've learned a thing or two about obstruction.

[Sevo]

Tony|6.20.14 @ 7:52PM|#
"Clearly they've learned a thing or two about obstruction."

Your team has become expert!

[Whahappan?]

Those damn Republicans, obstructing the investigations into Obama administration wrongdoing!!!

[Sevo]

Tony|6.20.14 @ 2:27PM|#
"People should go to jail because a hard drive fails?"

Shitbag, when the IRS asks you for documentation, why, you just tell them that your hard drive failed and therefore, they can't put you in jail!
Please give us warning; I want to sell tickets to watch.

[mplspolitics]

And now the OTHER IRS story disappeared? Get your shit together Reason.

[Sevo]

Look on it as one surprise after the other!
Look on it as a way to save money: My contribution is dropping $10 every time it eats one of my comments.