IRS Sued for improperly seizing medical records of 10 mill Americans

[koshergrl]

Yeah, that is what you said.

Anyway, the suit has been filed, and it looks gnarly.

 

[koshergrl]

What is with the name color?

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Yeah, that is what you said.

Anyway, the suit has been filed, and it looks gnarly.

Really?

Have you seen the suit? What looks "gnarly" about it?

 

[koshergrl]

Why do you keep changing your name color?

 

[theDoctorisIn]

What is with the name color?

You know, I just noticed that myself.

I guess they changed the "Super Moderator" color.

 

[TemplarKormac]

I understand why a company would sue anonymously, that's not my point.

Robert Barnes is a high-profile tax lawyer - he's the guy who defended Wesley Snipes.

He's a "court of public opinion" sort of lawyer, and he's trying to get you guys all outraged in advance of actually having to prove anything.

My point is that I'm going to chose to wait for any actual facts.

Oh wow, do a little more research before you level those kinds of accusations.

IRS Agents Sued in Health Records Case - DataBreachToday

"Accusations"? What are you talking about?

I'm not "accusing" Barnes of doing anything other than his job.

You accused me of having a "confirmation bias." Please be advised to get with the program.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Why do you keep changing your name color?

I'm not doing anything. That's beyond my powers.

 

[TemplarKormac]

What is with the name color?

You know, I just noticed that myself.

I guess they changed the "Super Moderator" color.

Congrats on the promotion. I think the purple clashes with the avatar though.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

Oh wow, do a little more research before you level those kinds of accusations.

IRS Agents Sued in Health Records Case - DataBreachToday

"Accusations"? What are you talking about?

I'm not "accusing" Barnes of doing anything other than his job.

You accused me of having a "confirmation bias." Please be advised to get with the program.

EVERYONE has a "confirmation bias".

It's just a matter of recognizing it.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Why do you keep changing your name color?

I'm not doing anything. That's beyond my powers.

Are we still invited for the cookies and ice cream?

 

[koshergrl]

I wonder if super mods can fly.

Super heroes can.

Let us know.

Meanwhile:

"
Barnes said executives of the company and IT personnel warned the IRS agents that the medical records were “privileged” under HIPAA. He said the IRS agents “ignored and discarded each of these warnings, ignored their own published and public-reliant rules and governing ethical requirements, and ignored the limitations of the court's search warrant authorization, seizing the records under threat of destroying company property."
Barnes said the IRS search warrant only “authorized the seizure of financial records related principally to a former employee of the company; it did not authorize any seizure of any health care or medical record of any persons, least of all third parties completely unrelated to the matter.”
Despite this stricture, Barnes charged the agents “seized personal mobile phones, including all the data and information on those phones, without any employing the proper and procedurally correct screening methods to protect private and privileged information, all of which was completely unapproved by the search warrant."
When the agents finished their raid, Barnes said they then used the John Doe Company facilities to relax, eat and watch sports on television. “Adding insult to injury, after unlawfully seizing the records and searching their intimate parts, defendants decided to use John Doe Company's media system to watch basketball, ordering pizza and Coca-Cola, to take in part of the NCAA tournament, illustrating their complete disregard of the court's order and the Plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment rights,” the suit said."

Lawsuit Says IRS Illegally Seized 60 Million Health Records - Nextgov.com

 

[depotoo]

link to a copy of the filing -

http://docs.ismgcorp.com/files/external/IRS_medical_record_case_3_15_13.pdf

 

[koshergrl]

Ok this is funny:

"...the IRS agents refused to return the records, continued to keep the records for the prying eyes of IRS peeping toms, and keep the records to this very day."

Makes me wish I'd gone into law. I love that stuff.

http://docs.ismgcorp.com/files/external/IRS_medical_record_case_3_15_13.pdf

 

[koshergrl]

And this:

"A special agent involved in the matter has a known and legally documented history of misconduct, ethical breaches, and criminal activity, including, but not limited to, making false statements to a grand jury, making false statements to prospective witnesses in his investigations, misleading prospective witnesses about their rights in his investigations, obstructing independent investigations into his conduct or the matter at hand, disclosing without authorization grand jury secret material in violation and contempt of federal court orders, invading and abusing search warrants and subpoenas for privileged information, including patient privileged information, attorney-client privileged records, and marital privileged information."

An IRS hitman. I hope they make this into a movie.

http://docs.ismgcorp.com/files/external/IRS_medical_record_case_3_15_13.pdf

 

[koshergrl]

Nicholas Cage should be the sleezeball IRS agent.

 

[koshergrl]

" The IRS raided John Doe Company even though the agents admitted the company was not under investigation, internal IRS records confirm the company was not under criminal investigation, and the search warrant showed the company was not under investigation."

http://docs.ismgcorp.com/files/external/IRS_medical_record_case_3_15_13.pdf

 

[TemplarKormac]

Nicholas Cage should be the sleezeball IRS agent.

Nah, Hugo Weaving might be better suited.

Get it?

 

[Cuyo]

That's because you're a leftist scumbag.

So your position is that unless you base your entire opinion on a matter upon a briefing from the attorney for an unnamed plaintiff... You must be biased [in this case, a 'leftist scumbag']?

Seems counter-intuitive.

 

[Clementine]

Right when you think the IRS can't stoop any lower, they do.

Targeting those who fight for the constitution and other Republican groups was bad enough. Now we find out they improperly seized records of millions of Americans.

And we are just scratching the surface of the deep corruption.

They not only target certain groups for audits, they try to control the activities of the groups. The IRS refused to grant tax-exempt status to pro-life groups unless they signed an agreement stating that they would not protest Planned Parenthood. Are we still supposed to believe that a handful of IRS agents were able to pick on groups without the knowledge of higher ups? There have been allegations of orders coming from Washington, but no names yet. Somehow it wouldn't surprise me a bit to find some Dems in Washington encouraging the IRS to go after their opponents.

IRS to Pro Life Group: Don't Protest Planned Parenthood | Independent Journal Review