RESPONSE TO IRS ISSUES. Roll Call. “There may be 100 senators willing to vote to excoriate the agency for subjecting conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status to an intensified level of investigation. But there’s no sign that a necessary 60 of them will get behind meaningful legislation to make sure that positioning anywhere along the ideological spectrum is never the interest of the tax auditors again.”
TIGTA REPORT. Here.
TIMES ON REPORT. Here. “‘What we don’t know at this point is whether it jumped the fence from the I.R.S. to the White House,’ said Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader. ‘But we do know this: we can’t count on the administration to be forthcoming about the details of this scandal, because so far they’ve been anything but.'”
WATCHDOG REPORT. The Hill. “A leaked version of the highly-anticipated report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) shines a light on the scandal that has dominated Capitol Hill and ensnared top IRS officials.”
NAME ON LETTER. Politico. “The director of the Internal Revenue Service division under fire for singling out conservative groups sent a 2012 letter under her name to one such group, POLITICO has learned.”
DAILY BEAST: FOCUS ON LERNER. Here. “Larry Noble, who served as general counsel at the FEC from 1987 to 2000, was involved in hiring and promoting Lerner. ‘I worked with Lois for a number of years and she is really one of the more apolitical people I’ve met,’ Noble told The Daily Beast. ‘That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have political views, but she really focuses on the job and what the rules are. She doesn’t have an agenda.'”
DO YOU HAVE HILL EXPERIENCE? Roll Call. “The value of Capitol Hill experience keeps showing up in recent moves around K Street, as former aides to members of Congress head on to big jobs in the influence industry.”
CATO: SHAPIRO ON MCCUTCHEON. Here. “In a truly free society, people should be able to give whatever they want to whomever they choose, including candidates for public office. We urge the Supreme Court to strike down the biennial contribution limits and give those who contribute money to candidates and parties as much freedom as those who spend money independently to promote campaigns and causes.”
PA: ALLEGATIONS IN RACE. Story here. “The Pennsylvania Republican Party has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against former U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak and his fundraising committees for allegedly violating provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.” More on Sestak here.
VT: CFR UPDATE. Story here. “Another effort to reduce the influence of money in politics appears to have fallen by the wayside, as Vermont lawmakers prepare to finish up their business for the year.”
HAVE A GREAT DAY.