Case Closed: CBS News Interviews ONE Cincinnati IRS Employee

In order to buttress the Administrations claims that there's nothing political at the IRS, CBS Evening News located a sole, retired IRS employee who happened to back up the government narrative. After teasing a "major interview" with a Cincinnati IRS employee for their evening broadcast, Dean Reynolds interviewed recently retired  24-year IRS employee, Bonnie Esrig who "did not work on political cases and was not connected to the applications at the center of the controversy."  It also means that she isn't a target for a subpoena.

Ms. Esrig said she "did not recall any discussion of politics" during her 24 years at the IRS.  She blamed the targeting of conservative groups on "confusion" as IRS agents sought to "differentiate between so-called social welfare groups that deserved exemptions and political advocacy groups that did not."  She said that 200 people were assigned to review 73,000 applications and they were "swamped."

Mr. Reynolds' penetrating line of questions did not include any of the following:

• Ms. Esrig, are you a Republican or a Democrat?
• Have you ever made a political contribution and if so, to what party(s), when and for how much?
• How were you chosen to speak out on behalf of the IRS?
• You said that 200 people going through 73,000 applications is being swamped, what is the normal workload in that division, any division?
• Where do you work now, do you consult for the IRS?
• Are you a member of NTEU, do you know Colleen Kelley or anyone who works with her directly?

So, I think it's clear through the self-selected, statistical sampling of ONE agent -- of unidentified political persuasion, who had no first hand knowledge of the process -- out of thousands of IRS agents assigned who worked in the Cincinnati office, that there's obviously no there there.  Good one CBS, way to suck up to the State.

UPDATED: 5/21/13 to add more snark.