-Caveat Lector-
September 28, 1999
THE POWER TO DESTROY
Journalists press case against IRS
Klayman, Farah charge government
hiding documents, lying
By Stephan Archer
© 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
Lawyers representing the Western Journalism Center plan to file
motion to have the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of
Justice held in criminal contempt for failing to produce
documents connected to an audit of the group and requested under
the Freedom of Information Act.
"Based on a pattern of misconduct in this lawsuit, we are
convinced that the IRS continues to hide documents," said
Judicial Watch's Larry Klayman.
Klayman is referring to the $10 million action he filed against
the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of the Western Journalism
Center, founded by Joseph Farah, editor of WorldNetDaily.com.
Farah and Klayman initiated the suit after a suspicious 1996
audit nearly forced the center to close its doors.
Before filing the new motion, however, the two will wait for a
judge to rule on an IRS motion for summary judgment in the case.
Originally, Farah was led to believe the audit was politically
motivated when one of the IRS' "Information Document Requests"
served on the center demanded substantial amounts of seemingly
irrelevant information -- particularly regarding the center's
investigative work into the suspicious death of White House
Deputy Counsel Vincent Foster. Specifically, the IRS asked for
copies of all documents related to the selection of reporters and
topics for investigation.
In these documents, the IRS asked Western Journalism Center the
following questions about the investigation into the death of
White House Deputy Counsel Vincent Foster: Who was on the review
committee? What review process is used for peer review? Were any
other projects considered? What about any opposing viewpoints?
Then, when Thomas Cederquist, the IRS agent conducting the audit,
admitted it was a "political" audit and that any "decision (had)
to be made at the national level," Farah became even more
convinced that WJC was the target of a politically motivated and
therefore unlawful audit. However, hard proof of the audit's
political roots didn't surface until Freedom of Information Act
documents received by the center from the Treasury Department
this past July traced the audit trail directly back to the
Clinton White House.
Beverly Hills resident Paul Venze had written a letter to the
White House questioning the legitimacy of the center's non-profit
status, since it was leading an investigation into the
circumstances of Foster's death. Upon receiving the letter, the
White House faxed it to the IRS. This sequence is detailed in the
Treasury Department report the WJC received, although belatedly,
in response to its FOIA request.
Farah and Klayman want to know why the IRS took two years to hand
over information about the Venze letter and the White House's
involvement, since it should have been provided immediately after
the FOIA request was filed and certainly during the discovery
process in the $10 million lawsuit.
Suspicions of IRS delay and obfuscation also stem from the fact
that in October 1997, soon after the FOIA request was filed, the
IRS turned over 114 pages of material to Farah, claiming those
were all the documents it had on the case. The IRS immediately
filed a petition for summary judgment from District Court Judge
Coleen Colar-Koteley, which would have closed the case for good.
However, WJC soon discovered that at least another 658 pages of
documents concerning the audit, including Venze's letter, were
being maintained by the IRS.
"This kind of behavior unfortunately has become normal throughout
government -- hiding documents, destroying them, lying, cover up.
It's always been the case, but it's gotten much worse during the
Clinton administration," Klayman said.
Now that the additional 658 pages have been turned over to WJC,
the IRS has once again filed for summary judgment. However, the
center is asking the court that the IRS' motion for summary
judgment be denied, and that discovery procedures into the long
delay of produced audit materials proceed, because Klayman and
Farah still believe the IRS is holding back documents.
"Where are the documents showing how Bill Clinton informed the
Internal Revenue Service?" asked Klayman during an interview with
WorldNetDaily.
Indeed, the journalists' opposition to the IRS motion for summary
judgment states, "Now that the IRS' erroneous claim in its first
motion for summary judgment -- that all responsive documents were
produced to WJC (Western Journalism Center) in October 1997 --
has been thoroughly discredited by WJC, and in light of the
highly political circumstances surrounding the White House's
initiation of the WJC audit, (and) the IRS' failure to provide
documents concerning the audit to WJC in a timely manner, ... WJC
is entitled to discovery into the scope and conduct of the IRS'
search, the existence of documents generated during the course of
the audit, the whereabouts of those documents, and the reasons
why all responsive documents were not produced to WJC in October
1997, among other related matters."
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Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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