Topic: Lois Lerner

A discussion on how the IRS can be used as a political tool to pressure non-profit organizations. The segment argues that the non-profit model is inherently risky for media organizations because it grants the government oversight and potential leverage over operations.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reportedly destroyed 30 million paper tax returns due to an inability to process a massive backlog. Critics suggest this move may disproportionately benefit wealthy donors whose complex filings were among the destroyed documents. The segment recalls the "dude named Ben" IT scandal from the Obama era as a precedent for IRS administrative failures.

The hosts attempt to track down the origin of the "Dude Named Ben" meme, which stems from a congressional hearing involving Jason Chaffetz and Lois Lerner. The phrase refers to an unidentified IT staffer allegedly involved in deleting IRS emails, which has since become a recurring joke on the show.

Donors from Australia and the U.S. are recognized, leading to an explanation of the "Dude Named Ben" meme. The phrase originated from IRS official Lois Lerner's testimony, where she dismissively referred to an IT staffer as just "some guy named Ben," highlighting the disconnect between management and technical staff.

The origin of the term "M5M" (Mainstream Media) is explained as a leetspeak-inspired variation of MSM. The "Dude Named Ben" meme is traced back to a 2014 IRS scandal hearing involving Lois Lerner and the disappearance of 32,000 emails, where an IT professional was dismissively referenced during testimony regarding destroyed hard drives.

The hosts reiterate the necessity of the newsletter for maintaining listener engagement and financial support, contrasting their independent approach with the "puritanical" restrictions of corporate broadcasting. They revisit the Lois Lerner IRS email scandal, playing a clip about the recovery of 32,000 emails from backup tapes. Plans for a formal show FAQ and glossary are discussed to help new listeners.

The legal definition and history of "Contempt of Congress" are explored in the context of the Michael Flynn investigation. The hosts note that the power was originally intended to punish those who bribed representatives and is distinct from judicial contempt. They point out that figures like Lois Lerner were held in contempt without serving jail time, as the power is generally tied to legislative rather than criminal matters.

During a White House press briefing, Josh Earnest was questioned about a provision in the tax code that would allow President Obama to personally request and release Donald Trump's tax returns. Earnest dismissed the idea as unlikely, citing the need to keep the IRS free from political influence. The hosts transition to the ongoing efforts to impeach the head of the IRS over the Lois Lerner email scandal and the perceived lack of accountability in the agency.

A federal appeals court has forced the IRS to release a list of 426 organizations that were unfairly targeted for extra scrutiny based on keywords like "Tea Party," "Patriot," and "Liberty." The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals criticized the IRS for "stonewalling" and making compliance with information requests nearly impossible for conservative groups. The hosts highlight this as a significant story of government overreach that has received minimal mainstream coverage.

The Department of Justice closes its investigation into former IRS official Lois Lerner, finding no evidence of political motive in the targeting of Tea Party groups. The hosts contrast this with Iceland's sentencing of 26 bankers for their roles in the 2008 financial crash. The episode concludes with a montage of clips from the Benghazi hearing and a final reminder of the eighth anniversary celebration on the following Thursday.

A new Inspector General report criticizes U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy for using private email for official business. Additionally, it is revealed that former IRS official Lois Lerner used a secret email account under the name "Toby Miles." The hosts link these stories to the broader theme of government officials bypassing transparency rules.

A report on future transportation suggests trains may eventually be powered by sewage. The discussion shifts to the IRS scandal, where thousands of Lois Lerner's emails were reportedly erased from backup tapes despite a preservation order. The hosts explain the technical process of using a "degausser" to destroy magnetic media.

The Treasury Department Inspector General reveals that 32,000 "lost" Lois Lerner emails were found on backup tapes. The hosts highlight the testimony that the IRS IT professional tasked with finding the emails, Stephen Manning, is legally blind. They argue this demonstrates a lack of effort by the IRS to comply with the investigation into the targeting of political groups.

U.S. District Court Judge Emmett Sullivan orders the IRS to provide sworn testimony regarding the destruction of Lois Lerner's hard drive. The investigation focuses on whether the IRS followed policies for tracking inventory and "degaussing" drives. The hosts predict that a low-level IT employee will likely be blamed for the missing emails and the failure to recover data from alternative sources like Blackberries.

A major software glitch in the U.S. State Department's Consular Consolidated Database has halted visa processing for hundreds of thousands of travelers globally. The outage, which began around July 20, 2014, followed a software update to the Oracle-based system. Passports remain stuck at embassies, affecting students, athletes, and business professionals.

The investigation into missing IRS emails belonging to Lois Lerner is scrutinized. Technical experts (referred to as "dudes named Ben") explain that the IRS used SonaSoft's SonaVault, a system designed specifically to prevent data loss from hard drive crashes, making the official "crashed drive" excuse highly improbable.

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton apologized to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen during a congressional hearing, defending his reputation against Republican accusations. She characterized the investigation into missing emails as "conspiracy hunting" and praised Koskinen's history as a "turnaround artist" for government agencies. The hearing highlighted the deep partisan divide over the IRS targeting scandal and the "Lerner crash."

Congressman Steve Stockman introduced the "Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Act" in response to the IRS claiming a computer glitch destroyed Lois Lerner's emails. The bill satirically allows taxpayers to use the same excuses as the IRS when failing to provide documentation.

The IRS claims that a computer crash resulted in the loss of an untold number of emails from Lois Lerner, a key figure in the tea party targeting scandal. White House spokesperson Josh Earnest dismissed concerns, asking reporters if they had "never heard of a computer crashing before." Critics argue that no professional IT operation would fail to have backups or would "recycle" hard drives containing subpoenaed data.

The IRS's claim that it lost years of Lois Lerner's emails due to a "computer glitch" is contrasted with the strict data retention requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. While private sector executives face up to 20 years in prison for failing to maintain email archives, the IRS Commissioner John Koskinen suggests that retrieving the subpoenaed documents would take years. The hosts argue that the government is exempting itself from the very transparency laws it imposes on corporations.