Report: McCain Staffer Urged IRS To Conduct ‘Financially Ruinous’ Investigations Of Non-Profits

Newly public documents indicate that a top staffer for Sen. John McCain urged Internal Revenue Service officials to conduct “financially ruinous” investigations of nonprofit groups.

Judicial Watch just released a batch of internal notes from the IRS which detail a discussion between top IRS officials, including Louis Lerner, and former staff director for McCain and chief counsel on the Senate Homeland Security Permanent Subcommittee Henry Kerner, at a meeting dated April 30, 2013. The notes are an IRS staffer’s version of what happened.

As the coauthor of campaign finance regulations known as McCain-Feingold, McCain has long urged more government restrictions on political speech and activity. He notably criticized the Citizens United ruling, calling it the “most egregious decision of the United States Supreme Court in the 21st century,” because it enabled corporations to spend money on political messaging via independent nonprofit organizations.