IRS Staff Send Confidential Taxpayer Info in Home Emails

Think it is safe to trust the government?

The Washington Examiner reported yesterday that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has uncovered the fact that top level IRS officials have used their non–secure home emails to transact official IRS business.  Committee Chairman Issa wrote in a letter to IRS Acting Commissioner Daniel Wertel, “This not only raises the prospect of violations of the Federal Records Act but it also raises data security concerns and violates internal IRS policies.”

This problem festers at the top of the organization, starting with former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman and Lois Lerner who targeted conservative grassroots organizations before her recent retirement.  The committee found Lerner transacted over 1600 pages of emails and documents over her private email system, including 30 pages of confidential taxpayer information.  In another article, the Examiner reported that Lerner forwarded confidential IRS documents to her personal MSN email account labeled “Lois Home”.

Issa is concerned that this “rampant use of nonofficial email by four IRS officials to conduct official business suggests that such use is a systemic problem throughout the IRS.” He went on to say, “This is also a concern to the committee because federal taxpayer information cannot be shared on non–secure, nonofficial systems.”

Many are concerned that the IRS officials used their private emails to avoid the oversight of the targeting.   No doubt our Citizens for Self-Governance legal team will investigate this for use in our  CSG Class Action Lawsuit against the IRS.

Even more to the point:  What does this say about the IRS’ integrity in managing ObamaCare?

What does it say about the federal government controlling the day-to-day education of our children with Common Core?

How much of this will we take before we insist — no demand! — self-governance?