Keeping them honest: Is the IRS targeting whistleblowers?
P. Jeffrey Black bumped up against his bosses in the Federal Air Marshal Service, eventually becoming a whistle-blower and testifying to a closed-door congressional hearing before his retirement in 2010.
He had taken a long list of complaints to lawmakers about how the air marshals service was run, ranging from problems keeping marshals on flights to allegations of ineptitude and favoritism by managers. The same year he retired, he appeared in "Please Remove Your Shoes," a documentary critical of the airline security measures travelers endure on every trip.
Then came the audit, which an Internal Revenue Service agent told him about the same day the movie premiered - "almost to the hour," he said.
Surprising expenses found in IRS audit
The Internal Revenue Service spent millions of taxpayer dollars on everything from event planners' commissions to speakers' fees to guest prizes to parody videos at a 2010 conference, an audit of the agency shows.
The beleaguered agency – already snared in controversy over its targeting of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status – spent $4.1 million on a 2010 conference in Anaheim, California, with "questionable expenses" comprising much of the budget, according to the report released Tuesday by the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration.
Tonight on AC360: Auditing the IRS; $4.1 million spent on one conference
Already facing criticism from lawmakers at a Capitol Hill hearing today for targeting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, the Internal Revenue Service is now under fire for spending $4.1 million on a single employee conference in Anaheim, California in 2010.
The shocking price is revealed in a new audit released this afternoon by a Treasury Inspector General. According to the audit, there were a total of 225 IRS conferences held over three years costing taxpayers nearly $50 million.
The report focuses primarily on “questionable expenses” at that 2010 conference in Southern California attended by 2,600 IRS employees of the Small Business/Self-Employed division.
For example, more than $50,000 was spent on videos shown at the conference. That includes a Star Trek parody featuring IRS executives, while another showed executives and managers learning the Cupid Shuffle.
IRS splurges on conference, Gilligan video
Congressional investigators are looking into the targeting of conservative organizations by IRS employees in Cincinnati. And the Inspector General will issue a report on how the IRS spent taxpayer money for expensive leadership conferences. CNN's Dana Bash reports on both investigations.
IRS accused of targeting conservatives
CNN's Dana Bash reports on claims Tea Party groups were targeted by the IRS. Jeffrey Toobin advises judgment should be reserved until more facts surface.
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Post by: Filed under: Dana Bash • IRS • Jeffrey Toobin • Tea Party |
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