In the wake of intense criticism over the agency’s targeting of conservative groups, former and current embattled IRS officials, Steven Miller and Lois Lerner, have reportedly received threats of physical violence.
From Sky News:
Ousted IRS acting commissioner Steven Miller has received threats, a source told Reuters news agency.
And the head of the tax-exempt unit at the agency, Lois Lerner, has also had telephone and email messages from unknown sources that “threaten physical violence”, according to her lawyer William Taylor.
Ms Lerner first disclosed the targeting of conservative groups, including the Tea Party, at a tax conference last month.
The threats have been referred to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), which is charged with the protection of IRS personnel.
The Huffington Post has more details regarding security procedures, as well as statistics on threats that the IRS typically receives.
Miller and Lerner live in the Maryland suburbs of Washington. On May 15, the day Miller was fired by President Barack Obama, local police stepped up patrols around Miller’s home when TV news crews had gathered outside, a law enforcement spokeswoman told Reuters.
Miller, at the time, was getting security protection from federal agents, the spokeswoman said. It is unclear if he is still getting protection. Security has not been added for Lerner’s neighborhood, the spokeswoman said.
Sources that spoke with those news outlets declined to elaborate further on the threats.
Police in the area of Miller and Lerner’s residences indicated that they were not investigating any cases involving personal threats to IRS employees, according to the Huffington Post.
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Comments
The ones who threaten verbally, are usually not the ones to worry about, its the ones who remain silently brooding in the shadows.
Just the IRS trying to gain a little sympathy from any quarter they can. Try telling the next auditer you face “You’ve lost your receipts”
Color me doubtful these threats are true.
The TEA Party isn’t violent. Yes there are a few “off folks” in every crowd, but just as the Nazi accusations were false, these seem to have that same Alinsky aroma…..
To paraphrase one of the women who testified on Capitol Hill, it’s the Occupy folks who SWAT people, who pull this cr*p.
And, question: since when do the police in Maryland care that someone’s house is being swamped by media and/or protesters?! They didn’t care when this guy, back in 2010 – a supposed “eeeevvvvviiiiillllll” bankers and Wall Street mogel – was under attack….ahem, I mean…was the target…. well, yeah. (warning – link to Mother Jones here)
I’ll bet that the poor son trapped by the “protesters” still has nightmares and required therapy to get beyond their “peaceful protest.”
Whenever some public official does something wrong and comes in for deserved criticism, they then claim to be receiving death threats. This is meant to deligitimize ALL criticism. This tactic only operable when the official is a Democrat.
Real or not they get zero sympathy from me. The irs should start getting used to getting “punched back twice as hard”.
These tyrants should be heckled, hounded, harassed and harangued at every opportunity! Our forefathers didn’t win victory by writing letters and marching around with funny signs. They took it up a few notches, and if we’re serious about liberty, we will do the same.
I don’t believe this one bit, and if I did, I wouldn’t care. God forgive me for that, but I just wouldn’t care.
Lois is on highly paid “vacation”, and is probably slipping away in Margaritaville, laughing that her IRS actions helped turn an election.
With toes in sand, she can use her laptop to access the IRS database and fix things, or send out damaging private intel on those that make Obama look bad. (maybe)
If no one goes to prison for using the police powers in such fundamentally anti-American ways, then perhaps only physical resistance can save the Republic. We aren’t there yet, but the stonewalling and massing of Obama’s forces at the borders of the issue, indicate Obama’s internal army would have it no other way.
Any front line loyalists still employed, must come to weeping Lady Justice’s aid, and raise their voices.
Boo-hoo-hoo.
What about the conservative activists and their families who have suffered far worst threats of violence because of the climate cultivated by these political bigots?
Should I feel sorry for these two lying, pensioned degenerates when they preside over an ARMED agency that routinely carry out their threat of confiscation and imprisonment against thousands of American individuals, families and businesses? NO!
To hell with them.
This points to different aspects of sickness in the culture. Just one: the MSM had stopped following this story, probably the most lurid and dangerous example of government abuse, i.e., of power used against ordinary people, in our time. But now they have a new angle and narrative: the violent tea party (or right-wing militia, or anti-government faction, etc.). The story now has fresh, if mutated, life. Watch for it.
The ruling power and propaganda culture of our time is perverse and ruthless.
The police probably just removed all the nearby lampposts and went home.
Payback’s a bitch. These two have no sympathy from me … and let the chips [or whatever] fall where they may.
I very much agree with comments above that TEA Party folks usually aren’t the kind to threaten violence on their foes. Yet, stranger things have happened. My biased opinion is that these threats are, most likely, to have come from the far left crowd, for whatever twisted reasoning those Leftists use.
If, on the other hand, these threats are simply expressions of severe dislike of Miller’s or Lerner’s acts while working under the guise of the IRS, well, Boo Hoo! If that’s the case, they instead need to go sit in the corner and take a “time out” because their stated Official IRS actions were reprehensible and are worthy of extreme verbal expressions of disdain. They both need to hear loud shouts of “For Shame!”
Sorry, IRS agents: my Sympathy Meter is stuck at Zero.
Burn in Hell, all of you!
Yes, I totallllly believe the two IRS officials who repeatedly said previously there was NO targeting of conservatives when they now say they are being threatened .
They believed they were being threatened when citizens were simply exercising their rights under the law and tax code. So forgive me if I’m skeptical that Mrs Lerner or Mr Miller have heard anything more than some insults. Insults they certainly worked hard to earn.
I’d be more shocked if they weren’t receiving threats.
Boo Hoo Ms. Lerner. You violate ethics if not laws and you want sympathy, no way. What you deserve is a long stretch in the slammer along with the rest of the scum that violated our trust in our government.
While you get to sit around on the taxpayer dime, lawsuits are being filed on behalf the people/groups whose civil liberties you have violated which if successful will be paid by the very taxpayers suing the IRS.
Can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would be sending these two, this stuff.
You will get it, that I’m sure of..
Other than throwing traffic over to Huffpo, I really don’t see any value in this blog post…..sources say.
If the origination of those phone calls are actually unknown, then they must be from the NSA.
Besides, if I threaten to “put a boot up your a**”, that could be construed to be an actual physical threat.
Boo freaking hoo. I can’t rustle up any sympathy for two people who threatened regulaw law-abinding citizens with fines and jail time. What was that Lerner said to Salvi (republican running for senator in Illinois) after the IRS lost their case against him? I believe it was “we’ll get you”. Case closed.
Who gives a rats ass? Pissing away our hard earned tax money. The 10% in this country that actually pay Income Tax to be threatening to rip they f’ing lips off! LET THE ANARCHY BEGIN!