Former IRS official Lois Lerner and her deputy are
asking a federal court to keep their testimonies in the Tea Party
targeting case private forever, over fear of death threats and potential
harm to their families if the documents go public.
Lerner and her deputy Holly Paz filed
a motion last Thursday to keep the materials—including tapes and
transcripts of their depositions—sealed due to threats they have
received in the past.
Court documents, reviewed by Fox News, said the “public
dissemination of their deposition testimony would expose them and their
families to harassment and a credible risk of violence and physical
harm.”
“Whenever Mss. Lerner and Paz have been in the media
spotlight, they have faced death threats and harassment,” the documents
stated. “Returning Mss. Lerner and Paz to the media spotlight places
them at risk, regardless of what they actually said in those
depositions.”
The documents also stated that: “Public exposure will
put innocent bystanders, namely Mss. Lerner’s and Paz’s family members
(including young children), at risk, too.”
Lerner and Paz pointed to comments from Tea Party
leader Mark Meckler that the lawsuit would “treat the IRS like the
criminal thugs they are.” The court filing argued that his comments have
created a “fertile environment where threats” against them have
“flourished.”
Lerner and Paz argued that publicity would “renew the
threats and harassment,” and said they have presented “compelling
reasons” to “override” unsealing the deposition transcripts and summary
judgment materials quoting them.
The request was
first reported by The Washington Times.
The Justice Department told Fox News on Monday that the testimonies of both Lerner and Paz remain sealed.
TRUMP DOJ SETTLES LAWSUITS OVER TEA PARTY TARGETING BY OBAMA IRS
Lerner and Paz’s attempt to keep them sealed comes
after the Trump administration, after years of litigation, settled
lawsuits with the Tea Party and other conservative groups who said they
were unfairly targeted by the IRS under the Obama administration.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month announced the
Justice Department had entered into settlements with the Tea Party
groups whose tax-exempt status was significantly delayed by the IRS
dating back to 2013, “based solely on their viewpoint or ideology.”
The settlements involved payments to the plaintiffs and an apology from the IRS.
“The IRS’s use of these criteria as a basis for
heightened scrutiny was wrong and should never have occurred,” Sessions
said in a statement at the time. “It is improper for the IRS to single
out groups for different treatment based on their names or ideological
positions.”
The scandal drew heavy attention in 2013, when the IRS
admitted it applied extra scrutiny to conservative groups applying for
nonprofit status.
Lerner, who was then head of the Exempt Organizations
unit responsible, became the public face of the scandal, though other
IRS officials were involved as well.