Obama Justice Department’s $1 Billion ‘Slush Fund’ Boosted Liberal Groups

By: Kevin Mooney  Source: The Daily Signal

"President Barack Obama’s Justice Department created a “slush fund” of nearly $1 billion using legal settlements with banks and steered those funds to political allies on the left while excluding conservative groups, internal documents show.

Tony West,  an associate attorney general  during the Obama administration who is now a top official at PepsiCo Inc., figures prominently in a chain of email messages involving his staff members, the records show.

The financial institutions, which made legal settlements with the Obama administration regarding mortgage securities that imploded during the 2008 financial crisis, include Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., and JPMorgan Chase.

Public records of the settlement agreements with the Justice Department show that when cash donations to liberal groups are combined with other donations in the form of loans and a  separate settlement with  Volkswagen of America Inc., the slush fund may have topped $3 billion.

The House Judiciary Committee obtained the internal Justice Department documents as part of an investigation conducted in conjunction with the House Financial Services Committee.

The emails suggest the Obama administration’s targeting of conservative organizations was not limited to the actions of Lois Lerner, the official who was in charge of an IRS division that processed various groups’ applications for tax-exempt status.

A  2013 inspector general’s report found that Lerner’s division delayed and obstructed the applications of tea party and other conservative groups.

In similar fashion, the Justice Department documents show that West’s staff went to great lengths to prevent conservative organizations from receiving any of the settlement funds. ....."

"......  Paul Larkin, a senior legal research fellow at The Heritage Foundation who has written at length on settlement practices, told The Daily Signal in an email that Goodlatte’s legislation would help prevent future misuse of such settlement funds.

“The Obama administration gave to its cronies money that belonged to the public,” Larkin said. “That was tantamount to theft. This bill will keep any future administration from again stealing from Americans.”

http://dailysignal.com/2017/10/25/obama-justice-departments-1-billion-slush-fund-boosted-liberal-groups/