The below documents were discovered after searching emails for the following keywords: “The Black Vault”, “John Greenewald” etc. The reasoning at that was fairly simple, but I did not expect the discovery that was made.

I received quite a few documents responsive to my request, however, the below stuck out. Internally, the IRS will file Sensitive Case Reports (SCRs) when requests come in from certain individuals or organizations that are like to attract media or Congressional attention, or if they consider them a unique of “novel” issue.

I was amazed to find myself at the top of the short list (albeit, it is alphabetical).

Also in the batch of records, were the SCR guidelines on how those requests are handled, and why certain people or organizations deserve to be on the list.

First, the official IRS list of requesters and organizations that are on the list:

Sensitive Case Reports Archive

 IRS Sensitive Case Reports, October 1, 2016 – March 10, 2017 [98 Pages, 1.8MB]

 IRS Sensitive Case FOIA Requests, October 1, 2016 – March 10, 2017 [432 Pages, 132.3MB]

 IRS Sensitive Case Reports, January 1, 2020 – circa April 2022 [969 Pages, 260MB]

Guidelines for PGLD Sensitive Case Reports (January, 2016)

The following is taken directly from the  Guidelines for PGLD Sensitive Case Reports (January, 2016):

1. Process for reporting

The case worker should prepare a Sensitive Case Report (SCR) within 5 days of case assignment. Disclosure Managers (DM) can also make an SCR determination. Input “SCR” in the Subject Line within the case in AFOIA as soon as possible, even if in advance of finalization of the SCR. Follow the approval path established by your Area to elevate the SCR to Area leadership: caseworker to DM; DM to Area Technical Advisor (TA); TA to both Area Deputies. Area leadership will approve/reject the SCR and ensure reconciliation with the Bi-Weekly SCR prepared for Directors PGLD and GLDS.

2. Format for reporting

Use the most recent PGLD Sensitive Case Report form.

Complete the SCR as stated below:

• Requester Name: Enter the name of the individual making the request and their association. Example: J. Smith, Reporter USA Today, or J. Smith IRS Territory Mgr. If the requester does not have an association, and then enter “(Self)”.
• Case Number: Enter AFOIA case number.
• Sensitive Case Criteria: Check applicable box. Additional information will be included in the Case Summary. See Criteria for initiating an SCR below.
• Disclosure Received Date: Enter the date the request was received in Disclosure. Where there is a substantial difference between this date and the date when the report is completed, please provide an explanation for the delay in the Case Summary section of the report.
• Due Date: Enter the original due date
• Case Summary: Enter a brief description of the issue(s) in the case (do not include an entire history sheet of the case). Do not use abbreviations and consider the audience. Do not include names unless the specific names are part of what makes the request sensitive. Be succinct.
• Action Plan: Enter a brief explanation of the recent activity and a plan of action. (Do not include an entire history sheet of the case.)
• Submitted By: Enter caseworker Name
• Date: Enter date SCR completed

Remember, a SCR should be a summary of a case and case activity. The report should be no longer than 1(one) page. Upload the completed SCR to the Research Folder in AFOIA.

3. Criteria for initiating an SCR

Employees should exercise good judgment in determining whether a SCR should be prepared. SCRs are used to notify top management of FOIA requests and actions being taken that are sensitive in nature prior to hearing about them externally. The report template breaks the criteria down to two categories as follows:

a) Likely to attract media or Congressional attention

Does the case involve a taxpayer with a recognizable name, such as a politician, an entertainer, or a professional athlete and the actions on the case may be publicized or result in a contact to the PGLD Director or higher? Could IRS actions in the case attract attention because of the nature of the taxpayer’s business? Could the taxpayer’s actions, such as contacting a Member of Congress draw attention to the case?

Is the request for information related to, or from, any member or committee of Congress? Is the request from a major news media outlet? Is the request from or concerning persons, entities, issues or programs that might generate media attention?

b) Unique or novel issue

Is the case novel or unusual in some way? Does the case fall outside of the other criteria, but is worth elevating for some reason? A case under these criteria should be accompanied by a brief explanation of why it is unique. Provide this explanation in the Case Summary section of the SCR report.
Is the request for information that may have national political implications, usually from organizations known to have national political influence or represent major political parties? Is the request for information about an IRS or Chief Counsel executive, other than the PIL or Oath of Office? For example: a request for copies of the Commissioner’s Travel Vouchers. Is the request from NTEU (or other national union, such as AFGE) for information on a national policy or program?

SCR Template

 25 – PGLD SCR Template (Jan 2016)

Origin

Along with other document, I was able to get the email chain regarding the creation of the SCR list.  You will find the more important parts of the exchanges below:

The attachment included on this email was the above mentioned list.

The post Sensitive Case Reports (SCRs) Regarding FOIA Requests at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) first appeared on The Black Vault.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) can be a powerful tool. And with the past controversy about Hillary Clinton, and her use of a private e-mail server (thus negating the reach of the FOIA), I thought it might be fun to start filing requests, for high ranking government officials, and see what they are talking about behind the scenes.  In this particular case? What IRS Commissioner John Koskinen e-mails contained — that had the word MORON.

Although primarily not too interesting, as many of the documents were responsive that had the word MORONEY, there are some attachments that may be valuable to some researchers.

Document Archive

 IRS Commissioner John Koskinen E-Mails Containing The Keyword: MORON through November 13, 2017 [197 Pages, 97.8MB]

The post IRS Commissioner John Koskinen E-Mails Containing The Keyword: MORON first appeared on The Black Vault.

The Internal Revenue Service created a video parody of Donald Trump’s television show “The Apprentice” which was broadcast at a 2011 conference held by the IRS’s Small Business/Self-Employed Division (SB/SE).

The video features a group of IRS employees impersonating contestants on the program and one impersonating Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump and contestants of the competition show.

The video was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act Request by The Black Vault, and still outstanding on the FOIA request, are documents relating to the budget, drafts or the scripts, outtakes, etc. This page will be updated, as those documents come in.

 FOIA Response dated December 15, 2016 [1 Pages, 0.5MB]

 Responsive Records / Emails / Budgets Released April 12, 2017 [41 Pages, 3.9MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/irs/irs-apprentice-emailsbudgets.pdf

The post IRS Spoof Video of Donald Trump and ‘The Apprentice’ first appeared on The Black Vault.

Enacted in 1966, the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, gives any person the right to access federal agency records or information. The FOIA is based on the presumption that the government and its information belong to the people.

A 1996 amendment to the FOIA, required federal agencies to make many types of records available online.

Internally, agencies produce reports that offer other FOIA staff members status updates, reports, statistics, etc. about the ongoing effort to deal with the onslaught of FOIA Requests they receive from the public.

In November of 2016, I requested all internal FOIA Status Reports from the IRS, for the years 2015 and 2016.  I was surprised to receive nearly 8,000 pages of responsive records!

I have archived them below for reference.  This is a very large data dump, so it is very difficult to truly break it all down and index, but this should give you a starting point. Not all PDF files are currently searchable.

Currently, the contents are organized exactly how they were given to me and in the same format.

Document Archive

• 2015 AFOIA Backlog Report April-June Sealed/
• 2015 AFOIA Backlog Report Jan-March Sealed/
• 2015 AFOIA Backlog Report July-Sept Sealed/
• 2015 AFOIA Backlog Report Oct-Dec Sealed/
• 2015 MAG Reports/
• 2015 Weekly Inventory Reports/
• 2016 AFOIA Backlog Report Apr-Jun Sealed/
• 2016 AFOIA Backlog Report Jan-Mar Sealed/
• 2016 AFOIA Backlog Report July-Sept Sealed/
• 2016 AFOIA Backlog Report Oct-Nov Sealed/
• 2016 MAG Reports/
• 2016 Weely Inventory Reports/

FOIA Response

IRS FOIA Response for Case #17307-0087 [2 Pages, 0.5MB]

The post Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Internal FOIA Status Reports first appeared on The Black Vault.

According to the IRS:

Leonard Oursler began his service with the IRS in October of 1997. His first position was leading a newly formed Congressional Outreach team in Legislative Affairs. In 2001 Leonard became the Chief of the Congressional Affairs Branch of Legislative Affairs. The Congressional Affairs Branch is responsible for coordinating all outreach activity with Congress and all activity on Congressional hearings. Congressional Affairs also advises all levels of the Agency on appropriate strategies for working Congressional issues. The Branch also directs all congressional activity of Governmental Liaisons.

Prior to moving to the IRS, Leonard worked 15 years on Capitol Hill. While on Capitol Hill, Leonard spent 12 years working with the Democratic floor staff in the Senate where he advised Senators, senior staff, White House and agency officials, the press and advocacy group representatives on Senate floor activity, legislative procedures and Democratic strategy. Working in the Senate was an exciting opportunity offering valuable insight to the legislative process.

The Senate is also where Leonard met his wife who was a member of the staff of Senator Lowell Weicker R-Ct. Leonard was born in Washington DC and currently lives in Maryland. He has three children: ages 14, 11 and 7. Upon completion of CDP, Leonard will begin his assignment as SPEC Area 2 Director, Cincinnati, Ohio.

In October of 2016, I requested a search of all of Mr. Oursler’s emails, that contained the keyword “TRUMP.” In January of 2017, I received the first batch of emails. I then requested again for emails created after the October date (obviously to include post election responsive records) and then received those as well on February 3, 2017.

You can find the responsive records below.

Document Archive

I combined both requests into one PDF, for ease of downloading and viewing.

IRS Congressional Liaison Officer Leonard Oursler Emails Regarding Donald Trump (October 2016 – February 2017) [60 Pages, 3.6MB]

Loading...

Taking too long?

Reload document

| Open in new tab

Download [3.42 MB]

The post IRS Congressional Liaison Officer Leonard Oursler Emails Regarding Donald Trump (October 2016 – February 2017) first appeared on The Black Vault.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) can be a powerful tool. And with the recent controversy about Hillary Clinton, and her use of a private e-mail server (thus negating the reach of the FOIA), I thought it might be fun to start filing requests, for high ranking government officials, and see what they are talking about behind the scenes.  In this particular case? What IRS Commissioner John Koskinen was saying, about Donald Trump.

I filed multiple requests at different time frames for responsive documents. You will find both cases below.

December 2016 Release

On June 27, 2016, I filed a FOIA requests for all e-mails, sent to or from John Koskinen, which contained the word, “Trump.”

These are the results:

 Koskinen E-Mails Containing the word “Trump”, Approximately March – June 2016 [48 Pages, 6.0MB]

June 2016 Release

On November 6, 2015, I filed a FOIA requests for all e-mails, sent to or from John Koskinen, which contained the word, “Trump.”

It took until June of 2016, to get the response. I received 29 pages of e-mails, most of which pertained to the Trump Organization and the construction of buildings which may have affected traffic near an IRS building, etc.

However, one stuck one. One e-mail sent to Mr. Koskinen, was a scathing review of one of the Republican Presidential Primary debates in 2015. It came from Mr. Geoffrey Peterson, head of, “The Peterson Group.”

“Senator Rand Paul did the worst. His hair looked worse than usual, like a small animal was sleeping on his head… Paul’s whiny back and forth with Christie did him no good. He will drop.”

“Where did friendly conservative Mike Huckabee go. He used to say he was a conservative but was not angry about it. Tonight he was angry and didn’t help himself. His hairline looked weird and all that weight regained has not given him more appeal. He will remain very marginal.”

“Ben Carson seemed half asleep during the first part of the debate, projecting no energy and had an attitude of bemusement about the debate. He had some good and clever answers toward the end. But he is a glib lightweight who really is in t his, I think, to sell books. I think the half brain that he removed was his.”

“Scott Walker, on the other hand, by contrast, looked canned and phony. He was especially tone deaf on the policing issue where instead of talking about the underlying national problem that blacks are at the mercy of the police, made it into a simple police training issue. Aside from the merits it showed me he was tone deaf. He didn’t answer a couple of questions and I had a negative feeling. He looks plastic to me.” (Full review can be downloaded below)

Although no one can fault Koskinen for receiving the e-mail, it does offer insight to whom he surrounds himself with. You will notice in the e-mail chain, that Mr. Koskinen and Mr. Peterson were set to have dinner in the following weeks of the e-mail, so obviously, this was a close associate.

But who is Mr. Peterson?

Upon digging, I believe this is the same Geoffrey Peterson, and appears to donate a considerable amount of money.

According to Influence Explorer, Mr. Peterson has donated more than $167,000 over the years, to various politicians, primarily Democrats, including Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton and Al Gore which top the list. He has also donated to many different PACs and causes.

A look at Campaign Money, shows the breakdown of many of his contributions, going back well more than a decade.

 Final Response F16313-0005.pdf

Geoffrey Peterson Review Sent to John Koskinen

 Download the document [3 Pages, 0.5MB]

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/irs/TrumpIRS/RE%20Impressions%20of%20the%20big%20debate_Redacted.pdf

Other E-Mails Received

       12th Street closure_Redacted.pdf                                           414K  
       FW Trump's Commissioner reference.pdf                                      387K  
       MAIN IR Trump Site Controlled Natural Gas Release Rescheduled_Redacted.pdf 452K  
       MAIN IR Trump Site Controlled Natural Gas Release_Redacted.pdf             445K  
       OPO 300 Ton Lattice Boom Crane 05112015_Redacted.pdf                       416K  
       OPO Annex Crane Delivery on 04152015_Redacted.pdf                          405K  
       OPO Crane at Annex C Street Week of March 9th.pdf                          378K  
       Old Post Office Change.pdf                                                 394K  
       Old Post Office Construction Update_Redacted.pdf                           487K  
       Old Post Office Crane Delivery Notification_Redacted.pdf                   409K  
       Old Post Office Skylight Materials_Redacted.pdf                            406K  
       RE Impressions of the big debate_Redacted.pdf                              808K  
       RE NY Times letter.pdf                                                     401K  
       Rescheduled Crane Set Up at Old Post Office_Redacted.pdf                   409K

The post IRS Commissioner John Koskinen E-Mails Regarding Donald Trump first appeared on The Black Vault.

One interesting use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), is crafting the request to search for certain keywords, sent to and/or from government officials.

For example, in 2015, when the Republican Presidential primary was at it’s peak, the abolishment of the IRS became a hot topic.

So, interested to see what the IRS was talking about internally, I requested a search of the following IRS official emails regarding the discussion of such a thing, on November 8, 2015.

I requested the search be conducted on the following IRS individuals:

1. Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service — John Koskinen
2. Chief of Staff — Crystal Philcox
3. IRS Chief Counsel — William J. Wilkins
4. Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement — John Dalrymple
5. Wage and Investment Division — Debra Holland, Commissioner
6. Large Business and International Division — Douglas O’Donnell, Commissioner

In June of 2016, I received the documents.

This is what was released to me:

Declassified Documents

The documents below were mailed on a CD-ROM, and separated into different folders. I stipulated how they were organized below.

 FOIA Response for IRS FOIA Case #F16313-0002 [2 Pages, 0.9MB]

Folder: F16313-0002 Resp. Docs. CofStaff

Emails from Chief of Staff — Crystal Philcox.

 File: FOIAF16313-0002-ChiefofStaffResponse.pdf [103 Pages, 6.5MB]

Folder: F16313-0002 Responsive Documents Commissioner

Emails from Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service — John Koskinen

 File: Follow-up_Redacted.pdf [3 Pages, 0.5MB]

 File: RePressClubCoverage.pdf [5 Pages, 0.7MB]

 File: REWhowantstoabolishtheIRS.pdf [1 Pages, 0.3MB]

The post Inside the IRS E-Mails: Abolish the IRS first appeared on The Black Vault.

What GAO Found The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made progress in implementing information security controls; however, weaknesses in the controls limited their effectiveness in protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of financial and sensitive taxpayer data. During fiscal year 2015, IRS continued to devote attention to securing its information systems that process sensitive taxpayer and financial information. Key among its actions were further restricting access privileges on key financial applications and continuing its migration to multifactor authentication across the agency.

However, significant control deficiencies remained. For example, the agency had not always (1) implemented controls for identifying and authenticating users, such as applying proper password settings; (2) appropriately restricted access to servers; (3) ensured that sensitive user authentication data were encrypted; (4) audited and monitored systems to ensure compliance with agency policies; and (5) ensured access to restricted areas was appropriate. In addition, unpatched and outdated software exposed IRS to known vulnerabilities.

An underlying reason for these weaknesses is that IRS has not effectively implemented elements of its information security program. The agency had a comprehensive framework for its program, such as assessing risk for its systems, developing security plans, and providing employees with security awareness and specialized training.

However, aspects of its program had not yet been effectively implemented. For example, IRS had not updated key mainframe policies and procedures to address issues such as comprehensively auditing and monitoring access. In addition, IRS did not include sufficient detail in its authorization procedures to ensure that access to systems was appropriate.

Further, IRS had not ensured that many of its corrective actions to address previously identified deficiencies were effective. For example, for the 28 prior recommendations that IRS informed us that it had addressed, 9 of the associated weaknesses had not been effectively corrected.

Until IRS takes additional steps to (1) address unresolved and newly identified control deficiencies and (2) effectively implement elements of its information security program, including, among other things, updating policies, test and evaluation procedures, and remedial action procedures, its financial and taxpayer data will remain unnecessarily vulnerable to inappropriate and undetected use, modification, or disclosure.

These shortcomings were the basis for GAO’s determination that IRS had a significant deficiency in internal control over financial reporting systems for fiscal year 2015.

Download the Document

https://documents.theblackvault.com/documents/financial/676097.pdf

The post March 2016: IRS Needs to Further Improve Controls over Financial and Taxpayer Data first appeared on The Black Vault.