SCANDAL WIDENS: IRS Targeting Went Beyond Tea Party, Conservatives

• 

• • 

    IRS “targeting” Tea Party groups

  • 

    Apology accepted? IRS admits targeting the Tea Party

An IRS campaign to apply additional scrutiny to conservative groups went beyond targeting "Tea Party" and "patriot" groups to include those focused on government spending, the Constitution and several other broad areas. 

The additional guidelines created by the agency were part of a timeline, obtained by Fox News, from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which is looking into the controversial IRS practice. IRS officials apologized Friday for the scrutiny, but new information suggests senior leaders were apprised of the effort as early as 2011 despite public denials from the top. 

Republican lawmakers have vowed to investigate and hold hearings, calling the revelations deeply troubling. 

"The conclusion that the IRS came to is that they did have agents who were engaged in intimidation of political groups," Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers told "Fox News Sunday." "I don't care if you're a conservative, a liberal, a Democrat or a Republican, this should send a chill up your spine. It needs to have a full investigation." 

The internal IG timeline shows a unit in the agency was looking at Tea Party and "patriot" groups dating back to early 2010. But it shows that list of criteria drastically expanding by the time a June 2011 briefing was held. It then included groups focused on government spending, government debt, taxes, and education on ways to "make America a better place to live." It even flagged groups whose file included criticism of "how the country is being run." 

By early 2012, the criteria were updated to include organizations involved in "limiting/expanding government," education on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and social economic reform. 

Taken together, the findings of the IG and the initial admissions by the IRS Friday are fueling complaints from Republicans on Capitol Hill. 

Evidence that the IRS was flagging such groups in 2011 was included in a draft inspector general's report obtained Saturday by Fox News and other news organizations and expected to be released in full later this week. 

That information seemingly contradicts public statements by IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, who told congressional investigators in March 2011 that specific groups were not being targeted. 

Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins on Sunday also called the IRS activities chilling and said she was disappointed that President Obama had not condemned the actions. 

"This is truly outrageous and it contributes to the profound distrust that the American people have in government," Collins told CNN's "State of the Union." "It is absolutely chilling that the IRS was singling out conservative groups for extra review. And I think that it's very disappointing that the president hasn't personally condemned this." 

At about the same time, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney released a statement saying: "If the inspector general finds that there were any rules broken or that conduct of government officials did not meet the standards required of them, the president expects that swift and appropriate steps will be taken to address any misconduct." 

Michigan Republican Rep. Dave Camp, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said Friday his committee will hold a hearing on the issue. 

The IRS said Friday that it was sorry for what it called the "inappropriate" targeting of the conservative groups during the 2012 elections. 

Lois G. Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, said the practice was initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias. 

But on June 29, 2011, Lerner found out that such groups were being targeted, according to the inspector general's report. 

She was told at a meeting that groups with "Tea Party," "Patriot" or "9/12 Project" in their names were being flagged for additional and often burdensome scrutiny, the report states. 

The 9/12 Project is a group started by conservative TV personality Glenn Beck. 

Collins also said she does not believe the activity was limited to "a couple of rogue IRS employees." 

"After all," she added, "groups with `progressive' in their names were not targeted similarly." 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Eva Mendes talks fashion line, new movie 'The Place Beyond the Pines'

• 

Eva Mendes is back in movie theaters this week, alongside Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper, in an intense Indie drama already getting early awards buzz.

“The Place Beyond the Pines” is what Mendes calls her “passion project,” and she told FOX 411 she is grateful to see it make it to theaters.

“You have a lot of obstacles,” she explained. “The ‘money people’ making the film put up a big fight because it's different and it’s ambitious and it's raw, and so I would like people to know that a lot of hard work went into actually even getting this going."

Speaking of her passions, the glamorous red carpet stand-out added that she is set to launch her own fashion line in the fall with New York & Company.  

“I've been kind of approached throughout the years, and it never felt right” she said. “We met about a year and a half ago and it's taken about a year and a half of courtship for me to kind of give in. I love that. I like when things take their time and naturally evolve.  So it just felt like the right fit, the right time… and my mom and my sisters shop at New York & Company all the time so we got really excited… It's kind of becoming a family collaboration deal. My mom is constantly texting me pictures of [saying] ‘add this to your new line!’”

She also noted the dress she wore to her FOX 411 interview is the type of style she’d like to make available to women everywhere.

“It's coming out of this place of like wanting to empower women and wanting to do it for a great price -- and I mean like this dress, I bought this dress for $10 at a thrift shop, $10!  I have a ton of stuff like this that I want to make sure that people have access to."

As for her work on the big screen, Mendes has a resume that ranges from drama to comedy to action. She said her coworkers have helped jump from genre to genre.

She said this time around, one of her “Pines” co-stars really raised the bar.

“There's stuff that didn't make the movie but Ray Liotta really challenged me in the best way possible. I'd love to do another film with him.”

Plus her upcoming comedy helped her work on her improv skills.

“I just filmed something with Larry David-- totally different end of the spectrum-- but he was like right there and it was improv so it’s [the challenge] that I love.”

Soon she’s also set to work with Gosling again, as he makes his directorial debut with “How to Catch a Monster”.

Mendes said she’s looking forward to having audiences see what it’s all about.
“I'm just excited for the world to see what he's written and what he's about to create, I'm just really excited to be a part of it."

For now, find them both starring in “The Place Beyond the Pines” in theaters March 29.

Fox News Entertainment Producer Ashley Dvorkin covers celebrity news, red carpets, TV, music, and movies. Dvorkin, winner of the 2011 CMA Media Achievement Award, is also host of "Fox 411 Country," "Star Traveler" and "In 5."

Ashley Dvorkin

Related Stories

'Modern Family' actress Vergara debuts new blond hair

View the original article here

The secret politics beyond the papal conclave- Cardinals gather for meetings to elect next pope

Let the politicking begin.

The world’s eyes are on Rome as the leaderless Roman Catholic Church begins its 2,000-year-old process of choosing a pope.

Cardinals from around the world started gathering Monday in the Vatican, ahead of the conclave expected to begin this Sunday or next week.

Vatican officials said 103 of the 115 electors, cardinals under the age of 80, arrived Monday for the congregation meetings, which begin with an oath of secrecy pledging to maintain “rigorous secrecy with regard to all matters in any way related to the election of the Roman pontiff.”

The real work is done at the meetings at meal time, where Cardinals ask 'Is there anyone looking out for our interests?'

- Michael Collins, author of “The Vatican: Secrets and Treasures of the Holy City

The congregation meetings give the cardinals a chance to get their first impressions of all of the candidates, particularly the front-runners dominating the world’s headlines before the vote. As reported by the National Catholic Reporter, eight years ago Pope Benedict XVI began to stick out as a front-runner while presiding over the meetings as dean of the College of Cardinals.

But as the cameras flash for cardinals entering and leaving the general congregations, Vatican insiders and observers know the real action, the real politicking and maneuvering, occurs behind the scenes in informal meetings over dinner, in small apartment gatherings and in the Casa Santa Marta hotel, where the cardinals will be housed during the duration of the conclave. 

The first order of business is to decide on a date for the conclave, a decision that will not be made until all the cardinal electors are present in the congregation meetings. All cardinals are invited to take part in the congregations regardless of age. 

The congregations in 2005 lasted 13 days, but expect the congregations this year to be expedited under the circumstances of Pope Benedict’s XVI resignation. During the meetings, the cardinals will set rules for addressing the media and each cardinal will be given approximately seven minutes to address the college about concerns facing the church, including the sexual abuse scandals and the future they foresee for the Catholic Church.

“The congregations are fairly routine and boring,” said the Rev. Michael Collins, author of “The Vatican: Secrets and Treasures of the Holy City,” to Fox News Latino. “The real work is done at the meetings at meal time, where the cardinals ask, Is there anyone looking out for our interests?”

In 2005, secret meetings took place in private apartments, national colleges and in lounges, said John Allen, renowned Vatican expert and author. The groups are typically divided by language set or region – English-speaking and Latin American cardinals meet to discuss the candidates more freely.

“They all start talking about what they need,” Collins explained. “The new pope is going to be someone who can speak a few languages, who is in fit health, who is willing to travel the world, and has fairly good gifts of governance.”

The Hotel

Once the congregation meetings are over, the actual conclave or election process will begin. During that time, the cardinals are housed in a posh hotel, Casa Santa Marta, on the Vatican grounds. Cardinals are not allowed contact with the outside world during the conclave: no laptops, mobile phones or use of wi-fi. Each cardinal gets his own room. 

“Most of the politicking happens at the hotel,” Collins said. “They also have other rooms at their disposition that allow the cardinals to bargain things out.”

The hotel, used for the first time as a conclave quarters following Pope John Paul II's death, was said to be pivotal for the selection of Pope Benedict XVI because it offered a chance for the many small informal dinner conversations to come together, with all of the cardinals in one location.

It’s also where pull for a Latin American pope can happen, at its best.

“If they all unite, and provide a strong case for Latin America, the other guys are going to listen to them,” Collins said. “It will be a great chance for one of the new countries to be promoted.”

The Conclave

The conclave begins with Mass in St. Peters Square at about 10 a.m. The cardinals go back to their dorms, have lunch and are bused over to the Sistine Chapel in the afternoon.

During the conclave, which comes from two Latin words meaning “with a key,” the 115 eligible cardinals are locked in the Sistine Chapel. Under the rules secret ballots can be cast once on the first day of the conclave, then normally twice during each subsequent morning and evening session. The voting continues until two-thirds of the votes are gained by one cardinal.

Inside the Sistine Chapel it is quiet – filled with nothing but the silence of prayer. Then the names of nine random cardinals are chosen: three that will serve as the voting judges or “scrutineers,” three to collect the votes of any sick cardinals who remain in their dorms, and three who revise the count made by the original scrutineers.

Each of the cardinals cast a vote in front of the altar, beneath Michelangelo’s fresco of the Last Judgment. Each vote begins with the preparation and distribution of paper ballots by two masters of ceremonies. The ballots are folded twice and placed on a plate, which is slid into an urn or large chalice.

As each cardinal places their ballot, they say aloud, "I call as my witness Christ the Lord who will be my judge, that my vote is given to the one who before God I think should be elected."

The ballots are read out and the votes are counted by the scrutineers to see if someone has obtained two-thirds majority. Three revisers double-check the ballots.

When a pope is elected, the ballots are burned with chemical additives – they produce white smoke when a pope has been elected, or black smoke when the vote has been inconclusive.

Collins said he doesn’t see this particular conclave lasting more than two or three days. No conclave has gone over five days since 1831.

On the first evening ballot, we’re going to see five or six candidates names come up and that night the cardinals will talk about who is a realistic candidate, Collins explained. Some cardinals may decide they don't want to be in the running. By the fourth or fifth ballot, the remaining two leading vote-getters become one.

“These guys … don’t want to be away from their mobile phones and computers that long, it’s going to be very boring,” Collins said of being stuck in the hotel during the election process. “You have nothing to do but read the bible. They will be anxious to show they are united.”

Follow Bryan Llenas on Twitter @Bryan_Llenas.

View the original article here

Source: Dr. Drew went 'above and beyond' trying to help Mindy McCready

LOS ANGELES –  Immediately after news of Mindy McCready’s apparent suicide spread across the web on Sunday, sharp condemnation of Dr. Drew Pinsky followed. 

The troubled country singer appeared on season three of VH1’s popular reality series “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” in 2009. Now she is the fifth show participant to die after the cameras stopped rolling, following Mike Starr, Joey Kovar, Rodney King and Jeff Conaway.

“Dr. Drew exploits celebs for money and fame,” some tweeted, while others weighed in that his “’treatment’ was reckless’ and others called for the “disgusting show to be taken off the air.”

However, we’re told by a source close to McCready that like all those who appear on the show, she was offered an abundance of free follow-up, top-notch health care measures as well as no-charge residential sober living, but in the end the ball was in her court.

“I can tell you Dr. Drew went above and beyond with Mindy, he wanted to help her but she didn’t really take the help,” an insider told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “He was very good to her, but it all proved too much. It was the perfect storm – losing her boyfriend who she loved, her kids being taken away, then rehab and coming home to an empty house. It was a tragedy, but for people to try and blame him is wrong.”

A rep for Pinsky was not able to elaborate further, however a statement was issued earlier this week indicating that the two had had some contact leading up to her death.

“She is a lovely woman who will be missed by many. Although I have not treated her for a few years, I had reached out to her recently upon hearing about the apparent suicide of her boyfriend and father of her younger (child). She was devastated,” Pinsky stated. “Although she was fearful of stigma and ridicule, she agreed with me that she needed to make her health and safety a priority. Unfortunately it seems that Mindy did not sustain her treatment.”  

The 37-year-old singer was in a serious depressive slump ever since the father of her youngest child, record producer David Wilson, died just over a month ago in what looked to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Making matters worse, her two sons – aged ten months and six – were removed from her home by a judge on Feb. 6. McCready was then committed to a rehabilitation facility for mental health and alcohol abuse examinations, but was released after just two days. 

“It’s a bit baffling as to how to Mindy managed to convince everyone she was okay and that she wasn’t court-ordered to spend a specific amount of time in rehab,” continued the source. “But if there was one thing about Mindy, it was that she could talk her way out of anything. Having been to rehab quite a few times, she just knew the right things to say.”

And relapse statistics in general are high across the board – irrespective of celebrity status. According to the National Institutes of Health: Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment, 40 to 60 percent of drug-addicted patients suffer a relapse following rehabilitation treatment.

However, not everyone agrees that “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” – which is not currently being broadcast – is of benefit to its high-profile participants.

“While the intention of the show might be good, it automatically becomes exploitative because it is creating entertainment based on the suffering of celebrities. Addiction is the most difficult and painful disease and disorder to treat and the success rate is often very low,” explained human behavior expert, Patrick Wanis PhD. “These celebrity addicts might also be participating in the show and treatment for the wrong reasons – namely to revive their career or be financially compensated. The only reason to participate in the show and treatment should be the desire to get help and change, otherwise the treatment will fail.”

View the original article here