Oh I suppose this adds some credibility to those of us who are still making noises about the IRS scandal. After yesterday’s post one would think this would make it as a headliner. IRS can seize bank accounts on suspicion, no crime required. In truth, now with this administration’s stone walling, it takes big bucks and a lucky draw of a decent Judge to get any documentation. The Freedom of Information act be damned.
So, Woodward’s comment is relegated to the micro bloggers to make notice. So here is my feeble attempt to keep the story relevant.
Woodward said, “The reality now in my view that in the Obama administration, there are lots of unanswered questions about the IRS, particularly. If I were young, I would take Carl Bernstein and move to Cincinnati where that IRS office is and set up headquarters and go talk to everyone.”
Woodward added that when it comes to the IRS scandal — in which conservative groups reportedly have been targeted and officials have claimed computer data has been lost — the important questions to ask are still, “What are the facts? What really happened?”
The Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case winds down to its conclusion this week. I had determined that I would not post on this topic. It was oh so obvious what the media intent was regarding the unending coverage. More importantly, it was a silent protest of mine. All that there was going on in the world and here at home could affect our individual lives, one being the “Affordable care act” otherwise known as the debacle Obamacare. Note the change in name calling. So we got a bit of a break with the air plane crash coverage. But the race baiting continued. When I caught the involvement of the DOJ, it was just too rich to remain silent.
We have a nasty hateful little man in the WH, and he found his perfect match in Eric Holder. The two will do all they can to cause racial strife. They need it to complete their agenda. Declare more powers onto themselves.IBD has a must-read editorial on the timeline of the prosecution of Zimmerman.
So without further adieu here we go :
Did the Department of Justice help generate protests in Florida over the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case?
The full extent of the CRS involvement in the protests, though, had not been known until now. The question is what the CRS was doing. If the DoJ was concerned that protests would get out of hand and turn violent, then mediation would have been a good choice. According to the descriptions, though, it appears that the CRS was more of a participant and organizer of the protests than a mediator of them. The sums of money don’t appear that large, but March 25 through April 12 is almost three weeks worth of time and effort.
JW filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requested with the DOJ on April 24, 2012; 125 pages were received on May 30, 2012. JW administratively appealed the request on June 5, 2012, and received 222 pages more on March 6, 2013. According to the documents:
March 25 – 27, 2012, CRS spent $674.14 upon being “deployed to Sanford, FL, to work marches, demonstrations, and rallies related to the shooting and death of an African-American teen by a neighborhood watch captain.”
March 25 – 28, 2012, CRS spent $1,142.84 “in Sanford, FL to work marches, demonstrations, and rallies related to the shooting and death of an African-American teen by a neighborhood watch captain.
March 30 – April 1, 2012, CRS spent $892.55 in Sanford, FL “to provide support for protest deployment in Florida.”
March 30 – April 1, 2012, CRS spent an additional $751.60 in Sanford, FL “to provide technical assistance to the City of Sanford, event organizers, and law enforcement agencies for the march and rally on March 31.”
April 3 – 12, 2012, CRS spent $1,307.40 in Sanford, FL “to provide technical assistance, conciliation, and onsite mediation during demonstrations planned in Sanford.”
April 11-12, 2012, CRS spent $552.35 in Sanford, FL “to provide technical assistance for the preparation of possible marches and rallies related to the fatal shooting of a 17 year old African American male.” – expenses for employees to travel, eat, sleep?
From a Florida Sunshine Law request filed on April 23, 2012, JW received thousands of pages of emails on April 27, 2012, in which was found an email by Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board Program Officer Amy Carswell from April 16, 2012: “Congratulations to our partners, Thomas Battles, Regional Director, and Mildred De Robles, Miami-Dade Coordinator and their co-workers at the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service for their outstanding and ongoing efforts to reduce tensions and build bridges of understanding and respect in Sanford, Florida” following a news article in the Orlando Sentinel about the secretive “peacekeepers.”
In reply to that message, Battles said: “Thank you Partner. You did lots of stuff behind the scene to make Miami a success. We will continue to work together.” He signed the email simply Tommy.
Carswell responded: “That’s why we make the big bucks.” More over at Hot Air
The New Black Panther Party is offering a reward for the capture of George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case.
BUNKERVILLE | God, Guns and Guts Comrades! 