No IRS Special Prosecutor

Indictments are less important than political accountability.

Like dumber follows dumb, the scandal of politicized IRS tax enforcement has been followed by calls for a "special prosecutor." Republicans are predictably leading this call against a Democratic Administration, but this is one case in which the GOP should hope it doesn't get its way.

The case for a special counsel is that Attorney General Eric Holder can't be trusted to investigate his Administration, and that the Administration will stonewall Congress. We don't trust Mr. Holder either, but letting him pass the buck to a special prosecutor is doing him a favor. This scandal is best handled in Congressional hearings that educate the public in the next year rather than wait two or three years for potential indictments.

While it's possible some T-men or White House officials broke the law, the heart of the matter so far is the extent of the selective tax enforcement against conservatives and why auditors thought that was kosher. Perhaps they were taking orders from their IRS bosses, or maybe they were responding to Democratic Senators, but whatever the case the public deserves to know.

No fewer than three Congressional committees are digging into the facts, and they have the power to issue subpoenas, compel depositions and demand emails and documents. All of this can then make its way into the public record. If the White House chooses not to turn over relevant information, it will have to assert executive privilege. Such resistance carries its own political price.

With a special prosecutor, the probe would immediately move to the shadows, and the Administration and the IRS would use it as an excuse to limit its cooperation with Congress. Special prosecutors aren't famous for their speed, and a decision on indictments would extend well past the 2014 election. If there were no indictments, whatever the prosecutor has discovered would stay secret. And even if specific criminal charges were filed, the facts of an indictment couldn't stray far from the four corners of the violated statute.

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The Ways and Means and Senate Finance probes can also explore if there was a broader culture of politicized auditing that extended to Mitt Romney's donors or those who opposed President Obama's agenda. It's arguably worse if the IRS minions were doing it all on their own because it means they have internalized banana-republic standards of using government power to punish the critics of government. That is terrifying for liberty.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424...SJ_Opinion_LEAD

Quote: W-Girl wrote in post #1

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It's arguably worse if the IRS minions were doing it all on their own

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No, it's not. If it's truly just low level employees, then that's bad enough, but if Obama is directing this, and can be tied to it with proof, then that's far, far worse.

I think it was Charles Krautheimer, or maybe someone else last night on the news. If a special prosecutor is invoked, then while it's being convened and checking into everything, anyone involved can just say they're not supposed to talk about it while it's being investigated so it goes underground for at least 6 months and is out of the public eye.

If there is no special prosecutor, it stays in the public eye daily while Congress asks questions.

Way better that there is no special prosecutor and then there is of course that "Holder investigating Holder" thing.

Quote: ozarkian wrote in post #3

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I think it was Charles Krautheimer, or maybe someone else last night on the news. If a special prosecutor is invoked, then while it's being convened and checking into everything, anyone involved can just say they're not supposed to talk about it while it's being investigated so it goes underground for at least 6 months and is out of the public eye.

If there is no special prosecutor, it stays in the public eye daily while Congress asks questions.

Way better that there is no special prosecutor and then there is of course that "Holder investigating Holder" thing.

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Interesting. Just air out all the dirty laundry then appoint the special prosecutor.

Quote: Weird Tolkienish Figure wrote in post #4

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Quote: ozarkian wrote in post #3

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I think it was Charles Krautheimer, or maybe someone else last night on the news. If a special prosecutor is invoked, then while it's being convened and checking into everything, anyone involved can just say they're not supposed to talk about it while it's being investigated so it goes underground for at least 6 months and is out of the public eye.

If there is no special prosecutor, it stays in the public eye daily while Congress asks questions.

Way better that there is no special prosecutor and then there is of course that "Holder investigating Holder" thing.

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Interesting. Just air out all the dirty laundry then appoint the special prosecutor.

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I doubt that will happen,or anything serious will come from this. The D's have too much on the R's,and the R's have too much on the D's. It a incestuous little circle of political politicians,many of whom have been family friends for generations.

Mutual Assured Political Destruction along with friendship and family connections is a hard nut to crack.