IRS Employees Violated Hatch Act During 2012 Campaign

They took a cue from Lois Lerner.

A report by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, released Wednesday, cited accusations that workers at a Dallas IRS office may have violated federal law by wearing pro-Obama items like shirts, stickers and buttons. The Hatch Act forbids Executive Branch workers from engaging in partisan political activity.

The report comes as two House committees move to take action against former IRS official Lois Lerner regarding the agency’s targeting of conservative groups.

The report, further fueling allegations of bias at the agency, claimed that several accusations were made against the Dallas office claiming pro-Obama gear was “commonplace” there. Employees allegedly wore Obama shirts, buttons and stickers to work and had Obama screensavers on their IRS computers.

The report said it was unclear whether this activity happened before or after the 2012 election, but an advisory was issued to Dallas employees that such activity was prohibited.

Another example cited in the report states an IRS employee in Kentucky also violated the law by touting her political views to a taxpayer during the 2012 election. According to the report, the employee told the caller she was “for” the Democrats because “Republicans already [sic] trying to cap my pension and … they’re going to take women back 40 years.”

The employee then told the taxpayer that she was not supposed to disclose her views “so you didn’t hear me saying that.” The report says the employee admitted violating the Hatch Act and will serve a 14-day suspension.

However, the Kentucky example was not the only IRS employee found to be urging taxpayers over the phone to vote for Obama. The report cites another unnamed customer service representative, who was accused of telling multiple callers in 2012 they needed to vote for Obama.

According to the report, the employee told the callers a chant based on Obama’s last name that touted his campaign and urged them to reelect him. The report does not say where the employee was located, but says the Office of Special Counsel is seeking “significant disciplinary action” against him.

The IRS wasn’t the only government agency openly supporting Obama. Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Director Helen Jones-Kelley was forced to resign after she was caught invading the privacy of Joe (The Plumber) Wurzelbacher, and engaging in improper fundraising activity for the Obama campaign. Wurzelbacher, if you recall, confronted Obama over his socialist ‘spread the wealth’ philosophy.

The tentacles of Obama’s collaborators ran deep. Rampant voter fraud in the State of Ohio and across the U.S. on Obama’s behalf, went unchecked and unpunished.

That Obama tools in the IRS pulled this kind of shit, isn’t a stretch.