IRS Scandal explodes. "no evidence that would support a criminal prosecution."

[Jhhnn]

Yes, except Judicial Watch has a long history of pushing accusations that turn out to be empty hyperbole. At best I suspect their attorney misunderstood what the Justice Department lawyer said ... in a way that lets them make the most sensational claim, of course. Let's get a named source within Justice who will corroborate this story.

Just say it- Judicial watch is just part of the right wing noise machine, with lawyers.

Issa in drag.

 

[Bowfinger]

Just say it- Judicial watch is just part of the right wing noise machine, with lawyers.

Issa in drag.

I've not paid much attention to them in the past, but it certainly seems like it based on this story. They've been quite prolific in spreading deceptive propaganda.

 

[TerryMathews]

I've not paid much attention to them in the last, but it certainly seems like it based on this story. They've been quite prolific in spreading deceptive propaganda.

I'm curious to see if there's any truth to that story or not.

 

[Jhhnn]

I'm curious to see if there's any truth to that story or not.

Not likely, but you're learning, learning to beware of people telling you what you want to hear.

 

[TerryMathews]

Not likely, but you're learning, learning to beware of people telling you what you want to hear.

You're obviously not.

 

[DominionSeraph]

We can't get the IRS or Obama get away with the attack on Benghazi.

 

[Jhhnn]

We can't get the IRS or Obama get away with the attack on Benghazi.

Of course not. The guns obviously came from fast & furious, and the inspiration for it all from the Ebil Kenyan's fake birth certificate. That's why Vince Foster killed himself & Bill boffed Monica, too.

It's all coming into focus. It's all a giant plot to persecute conservatives, bring on Sharia Law & destroy the center of the universe, the sacred state of Izroyel. The apocalypse is upon us, so you'd better make plans for somebody to take care of your dog after you're lifted up to heaven.

 

[Jhhnn]

You're obviously not.

I've taken a "show me" attitude all along. All I've seen so far is Jack & Shit, along with a gaggle of idiots vying for the best vantage to get their noses in Issa's buttcrack.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Of course not. The guns obviously came from fast & furious, and the inspiration for it all from the Ebil Kenyan's fake birth certificate. That's why Vince Foster killed himself & Bill boffed Monica, too.

It's all coming into focus. It's all a giant plot to persecute conservatives, bring on Sharia Law & destroy the center of the universe, the sacred state of Izroyel. The apocalypse is upon us, so you'd better make plans for somebody to take care of your dog after you're lifted up to heaven.

They're so jealous of us being raptured into heaven that they'll like about a 4 billion year old earth and "global warming" in order to stop it.

 

[brycejones]

Post 1885,

No explosion yet

 

[xBiffx]

http://observer.com/2014/08/irs-shocker-filing-reveals-lerner-blackberry-destroyed/

With incredible disregard for the law and the Congressional inquiry, the IRS admits that this Blackberry “was removed or wiped clean of any sensitive or proprietary information and removed as scrap for disposal in June 2012.” This is a year after her hard drive “crash” and months after the Congressional inquiry began.

 

[Bowfinger]

As expected, Judicial Watch was spinning tales. Here's an update Fox (of all places) added to its story (though with the same sensational and misleading headline):

However, an administration official told Fox News Monday night, “ There was no new back-up system described last week to Judicial Watch. Government lawyers who spoke to Judicial Watch simply referred to the same email retention policy that Commissioner (John) Koskinen had described in his Congressional testimony.”
​

Of course the damage is already done. The wing-nut blogs are aflame with outrage over this "shocking" development. All sorts of wild accusations, demands for prison, etc. Some sociopath even called for Obama's head on an Isis pike.

Issa also used this as an excuse to grab the spotlight. He promised to bring Koskinen back to his inquisition for a "closed-door" interrogation session. This conveniently means Issa will be free to cherry pick whatever he wants out of context to further his lies, of course.

 

[TerryMathews]

http://observer.com/2014/08/irs-shocker-filing-reveals-lerner-blackberry-destroyed/

I can think of a number of legitimate reasons for that switch, a lot of Federal offices were transitioning from Sprint/Nextel around that timeframe. That said, it certainly does seem like Lerner went through a lot of technology in a short period of time.

I don't generally believe in coincidences.

 

[Bowfinger]

http://observer.com/2014/08/irs-shocker-filing-reveals-lerner-blackberry-destroyed/

Ah yes, the other big deception being pushed by the nutter propagandists. I didn't think the rubes would fall for that, but I forget they are technically illiterate and lack critical thinking skills.

So yes, many propagandists are also reporting that line. Somehow, they conveniently leave out the next sentences explaining this: the Blackberries only mirror whatever is on the Exchange server. They archive nothing. If it's not on the Exchange server, it's not on the Blackberry (and certainly not two to three years and thousands of emails later). This is right there in the same sworn statements, the documents I linked yesterday.

 

[Bowfinger]

I can think of a number of legitimate reasons for that switch, a lot of Federal offices were transitioning from Sprint/Nextel around that timeframe. That said, it certainly does seem like Lerner went through a lot of technology in a short period of time.

I don't generally believe in coincidences.

They replaced her Blackberry after about three years. That's a pretty standard working life for IT assets, and a bit better than normal for cell phones.

 

[Jhhnn]

http://observer.com/2014/08/irs-shocker-filing-reveals-lerner-blackberry-destroyed/

Standard procedure, like it or not.

At worst, it means that higher ups in the IRS just weren't sensitive enough to the tender feelings of Issa & cronies. Imagine that. The people who handled the blackberry when she turned it in just did their jobs, as usual.

Too bad. So sad. Buh-bye little fail boat! Buh-bye!

 

[TerryMathews]

the Blackberries only mirror whatever is on the Exchange server. They archive nothing. If it's not on the Exchange server, it's not on the Blackberry (and certainly not two to three years and thousands of emails later). This is right there in the same sworn statements, the documents I linked yesterday.

1/3 true.

Blackberry devices archive nothing: true

If it's not on the Exchange server, it's not on the Blackberry: false

the Blackberries only mirror whatever is on the Exchange server: false

Exchange is only one data source for Blackberry. As they are cell phones there is also SMS messages and Blackberry Messenger to contend with. SMS might be synced with Exchange, depending on settings. Blackberry Messenger would be synced with BES. Which may or may not be running on the same server as Exchange it doesn't have to, or at least it didn't.

 

[Jhhnn]

I can think of a number of legitimate reasons for that switch, a lot of Federal offices were transitioning from Sprint/Nextel around that timeframe. That said, it certainly does seem like Lerner went through a lot of technology in a short period of time.

I don't generally believe in coincidences.

Of course you don't. That's the heart of conspiracy theory- assuming connectedness where none can be shown to exist.

It's all pander points for the faithful at this point. If Issa really wanted to know what happened, he'd force Lerner's testimony under a grant of immunity.

Obviously not, not while there are chumps to be led around in circles & more mud to fling about with reckless abandon.

 

[Jhhnn]

1/3 true.

Blackberry devices archive nothing: true

If it's not on the Exchange server, it's not on the Blackberry: false

the Blackberries only mirror whatever is on the Exchange server: false

Exchange is only one data source for Blackberry. As they are cell phones there is also SMS messages and Blackberry Messenger to contend with. SMS might be synced with Exchange, depending on settings. Blackberry Messenger would be synced with BES. Which may or may not be running on the same server as Exchange it doesn't have to, or at least it didn't.

So what? The blackberry was destroyed under standard procedure, all related data likely the same.

 

[xBiffx]

Standard procedure, like it or not.

Simply isn't, especially after an investigation was ongoing. But I don't expect you to start being honest anytime soon either.

 

[xBiffx]

To the tools, just to make it easy for you.

If the hard drive(s) crashes are the reason for the missing emails, then emails weren't backup up on a server or this wasn't a server environment like Exchange. In that case, the destruction of a Blackberry that contained emails was unlawful without first backing up any and all documents on that device. This means that the hard drive emails and Blackberry emails were separate and weren't synced copies of one another.

I have no idea why anyone would handle email like this between the office and mobile but seeing is how we don't have backups on a server for the emails that were lost in the crash its not hard to believe that everything IT related at the IRS is that fucked up. If a hard drive crash brings down your entire records retention strategy that is mandated by law, its clear you have no idea what the hell you are doing. That and its pretty obvious that the IRS cares nothing about federal law either, if this is really what happened. Of course, the IRS could be full of shit too.

 

[Bowfinger]

1/3 true.

Blackberry devices archive nothing: true

If it's not on the Exchange server, it's not on the Blackberry: false

the Blackberries only mirror whatever is on the Exchange server: false

Exchange is only one data source for Blackberry. As they are cell phones there is also SMS messages and Blackberry Messenger to contend with. SMS might be synced with Exchange, depending on settings. Blackberry Messenger would be synced with BES. Which may or may not be running on the same server as Exchange it doesn't have to, or at least it didn't.

The context here is emails, so SMS messages are out of scope. Nonetheless, I agree Blackberries will often contain text messages that are not stored on the mail servers. I also think that's an interesting question: are text messages subject to discovery in this lawsuit, or in the other investigations? I've seen no mention of them.

Re. mirroring whatever is on the server, that's based directly on the IRS statement from Manning:

"7. In the standard IRS configuration of Blackberry devices, the Blackberry device displays and stores only email (both sent and received) that is also stored in the Microsoft Outlook mailbox of the assigned user, with the possible exception of draft messages created on the Blackberry but not sent, which would appear on the Blackberry only. Therefore, standard IRS practice and policy in the collection of electronic data does not include collecting data from Blackberry devices because the email of a Blackberry user is collected through the process of collecting the contents of the user's Outlook mailbox files."
​

(Any typos are mine.)

The point is Biff's Observer story (and the National Review story, and all the similar stories popping up all over the nutter disinformation bubble) are intentionally misleading. They deliberately omit the part about Blackberries being ignored because they do not contain any email that's not also on the server.

 

[TerryMathews]

So what? The blackberry was destroyed under standard procedure, all related data likely the same.

So what? Correcting for the sake of accuracy isn't kosher with you anymore?

I'll remember that the next time you correct someone.

Like it or not, the government had an obligation to make every reasonable effort to retain information that crossed her Blackberry to comply with statutory requirements. Failing to do so, or doing it in a manner which makes it cumbersome to examine is contrary to both the letter and the spirit of the law.

I'd love to see someone use these excuses the next time the IRS audits them.

 

[Jaskalas]

Destruction of evidence, standard government operating procedure.

Democrats will find it acceptable until the next Republican administration.

 

[xBiffx]

"7. In the standard IRS configuration of Blackberry devices, the Blackberry device displays and stores only email (both sent and received) that is also stored in the Microsoft Outlook mailbox of the assigned user, with the possible exception of draft messages created on the Blackberry but not sent, which would appear on the Blackberry only. Therefore, standard IRS practice and policy in the collection of electronic data does not include collecting data from Blackberry devices because the email of a Blackberry user is collected through the process of collecting the contents of the user's Outlook mailbox files."

If this is the case, why does a single hard drive crash equate to hundreds or thousands of missing emails?

The server has to retain the emails in order for mirroring and syncing to work. Otherwise, the IRS is full of shit.