IRS blasé when Congress inquires about Clinton Foundation disclosures

Last month, a sizable group of Republican congressmen formally requested that the IRS review the tax-exempt status enjoyed by the Clinton Foundation after learning the nonprofit had not reported itemized donations from foreign governments.

The IRS responded with a form letter.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) shared the cocky response with the Washington Examiner, marveling at the tax agency’s glibness — especially concerning its treatment of exempt organizations, which has garnered the IRS plenty of negative attention in the past couple of years.

“It begs the question — do they even take our request seriously? This is exactly why people don’t trust the IRS,” Blackburn told the Examiner.

Blackburn headed a group of 51 House Republicans in signing the letter, which asked the IRS to revisit its assessment of the Clinton Foundation in order to determine whether the foundation, which violated the disclosure rules during Hillary Clinton’s tenure at the State Department, should continue to enjoy tax-exempt status.

That so many congressmen had taken an interest in the matter should have at least elicited a personal response, said Blackburn. Instead, the agency replied with a form letter that, according to the Examiner, “starts with ‘Dear Sir or Madam.’”

From the report:

“The information you submitted will be considered in this program,” it said. The letter was from Margaret Von Lienen, director of exempt organizations examinations, but she didn’t sign it.

Blackburn said the perfunctory response is far below the level of customer service members of Congress should be getting.

“The IRS response is not acceptable and lacking in the requisite tact that should accompany a congressional inquiry,” she said. “It is unbelievably disrespectful that Margaret Von Lienen couldn’t even take the few extra seconds needed to sign the letter.”

The dismissive response invokes recent, similar responses to other congressional inquiries into the activities of Democratic politicians. Eric Holder’s Department of Justice continually punted on whether it was actively pursuing its nominal investigation into the IRS’s political discrimination scandal, which has so far produced nothing of substance to implicate or clear those allegedly involved.

“We’d expect officials at the IRS, who also work for and are paid by the U.S. taxpayer, to take the same care and effort [as we have taken] in crafting a response to our inquiry,” Blackburn told the Examiner.

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