True the Vote Files Lawsuit Against IRS and Its Employees

Last week, True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht held a conference call for media with the group's well known D.C. attorney, Cleta Mitchell, to announce that a lawsuit has been filed against the I.R.S.  There are three counts to the lawsuit. Mitchell is of counsel to True the Vote and ActRight Legal Foundation, a 501(c)3 fundamental rights and public interest law firm representing True the Vote. 

Count One:  Seeks recognition of True the Vote as a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization pursuant to  26 USC § 7428.

Count Two:  Seeks damages and injunctive relief from the IRS and IRS employees and agents, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971), for violation of True the Vote's constitutional rights by virtue of the actions of the government in unlawfully targeting and delaying recognition of True the Vote's exempt status.

Count Three:   Seeks damages and injunctive relief against the IRS and IRS employees, pursuant to 26 USC § 7431, for their unlawful intrusions into True the Vote’s activities by requiring the filing of voluminous materials with the IRS, then unlawfully inspecting and potentially disseminating the information.

“This is just the first of several cases ActRight Legal Foundation plans to file against the IRS and those within the agency who have violated the constitutional rights of these citizens’ organizations,” said Dr. John Eastman, Chairman of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence and of Counsel to ActRight Legal Foundation. 

That's right.  The headline here is that True the Vote is not only suing the I.R.S. but also those employees who participated in the witch hunt. 

Here are some named respondents you may be familiar with:

Acting Commissioner Douglas Shulman, Lois Lerner, Susan Maloney, Ronald Bell, Janine L. Estes, and Faye Ng.  

This is described as a demand for the truth.  During the IG's audit process, the employees were questioned without being sworn in.  The IG was clear in reminding the House committee during the hearings that the audit was not technically an investigation.  So, True the Vote wants to know why their tax exempt process has been so long in the making - over three years now - and how was responsible for making these requests.

Seems fair enough, right?