Lois Lerner’s Hard Drive Was SHREDDED
Former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner’s hard drive most likely crashed due to “an impact of some sort,” like somebody hitting it or smashing it, according to new congressional testimony.
Then the hard drive was shredded and its pieces were sold for scrap.
Lerner’s laptop, which crashed on June 11, 2011 between 5 and 7 PM, was sent to an IT technician two days later. The Hewlett-Packard technician looking at her laptop determined that the hard drive failed because of an impact of some sort. (RELATED: Daily Caller Shows How To Destroy A Hard Drive).
“When asked about the possible cause of the hard drive failure, the HP technician opined that heat-related failures are not seen often, and based on the information provided to him, the hard drive more than likely crashed due to an impact of some sort,” according to testimony from the Treasury Inspector general’s investigation of the hard drive, which was submitted today to the House Committee On Oversight and Government Reform. “However, because the HP technician did not examine the hard drive as part of his work on the laptop, it could not be determined why it crashed.”
The hard drive was later shredded, according to testimony.
“We determined by obtaining the certificate of destruction dated April 16, 2012, interviews with the facility manager, and a search of the facility, that this shipment of hard drives was destroyed using an AMERI-SHRED AMS-750HD shredder,” according to the inspector general’s testimony. “TIGTA agents observed the shredder in operation and noted that the shredder cut the inserted hard drives into quarter-sized pieces, and according to the facility manager, those pieces are then sold for scrap.”
Meanwhile, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division reported that it could have retrieved the data from Lerner’s hard drive, but IRS management told investigators that such an effort “was not worth the expense.”
The Criminal Investigation Division “noted some scoring on the top platter of the drive, and he believed there were additional steps that could have been taken to attempt to recover data. IRS IT management determined the extra effort to recover data from Ms. Lerner’s hard drive was not worth the expense,” according to the inspector general’s testimony.
The IRS is in possession of thousands of Lerner emails discovered recently at a storage facility in West Virginia, but refuses to turn the emails over the Oversight Committee.
The IRS claims that it is still trying to “de-duplicate” the emails so that Oversight won’t have to sort through multiple copies of the same emails. The IRS claims that “de-duplicating” Lerner’s emails could take a long time. (RELATED: The IRS’ Dumbest Excuse Yet).
Supreme Court Upholds All Obamacare Subsidies In Win For Obama
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Obamacare subsidies can go to enrollees in every state in a big victory for the Obama administration and a blow to Republicans hoping to repeal parts of the law.
In a 6-3 vote, the justices said all residents are eligible to receive federal subsidies to purchase insurance, even if they live in one of the 34 states that has not set up its own insurance exchange, reported The New York Times.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, which was opposed by Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — the Court’s most conservative members.
The administration’s challengers made the case that the government can’t subsidize plans purchased on the federal exchange, because the law says that only people who buy Obamacare “though an Exchange established by the state,” are eligible for subsidies.
If the Supreme Court had ruled against the administration, the 7 million enrollees currently subsidized by the Internal Revenue Service could have been faced with plans they can’t afford. That would have crippled the entire healthcare law and given Republicans an opportunity to roll back the law and present their own ideas.
But the administration argued the greater context of the law makes it clear Congress did not intend to limit the subsidies only to states who set up their own exchange, and argued a ruling against them would place an overdue burden on the states without an exchange and on the larger healthcare system. (RELATED: How Justice Kennedy Might Justify Saving Obamacare)
Republicans released statements Thursday urging Congress to move past the ruling and keep fighting the law, saying the ruling does not change the fact that it’s a bad law.
“The politicians who forced Obamacare on the American people now have a choice,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement. “[They can] crow about Obamacare’s latest wobble towards the edge, or work with us to address the ongoing negative impact of a 2,000-page law that continues to make life miserable for too many of the same people it purported to help.”
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Republican Presidential Candidates Blast Supreme Court Ruling
The Republicans running for president in 2016 expressed disappointment — and in one case accused the high court of “judicial tyranny” — after the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld federal subsidies under President Obama’s health care law.
“Today’s King v. Burwell decision, which protects and expands Obamacare, is an out-of-control act of judicial tyranny,” said former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. “Our founding fathers didn’t create a ‘do-over’ provision in our Constitution that allows unelected, Supreme Court justices the power to circumvent Congress and rewrite bad laws.”
“This decision turns both the rule of law and common sense on its head,” Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul said. “Obamacare raises taxes, harms patients and doctors, and is the wrong fix for America’s health care system.”
“It is outrageous that the Supreme Court once again rewrote ObamaCare to save this deeply flawed law despite the plain text and in the face of overwhelming evidence that the law is not working for the majority of Americans,” said former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.
“I disagree with the court’s ruling and believe they have once again erred in trying to correct the mistakes made by President Obama and Congress in forcing Obamacare on the American people,” said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
“I am disappointed by today’s Supreme Court ruling in the King v. Burwell case,” former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said. “But this decision is not the end of the fight against Obamacare.”
“While I disagree with the ruling, it was never up to the Supreme Court to save us from Obamacare,” former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said. “We need leadership in the White House that recognizes the folly of having to pass a bill to know what’s in it.”
“Now that the Supreme Court has ruled, the debate will grow,” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said. “Conservatives must be fearless in demanding that our leaders in Washington repeal and replace Obamacare with a plan that will lower health care costs and restore freedom.”
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling upholding the administration’s implementation of Obamacare means Republicans in the House and Senate must redouble their efforts to repeal and replace this destructive and costly law,” Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who’s exploring a run, said Thursday.
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