Sound Politics: Re: Sherril Huff's Federal Tax Lien

January 26, 2009

Re: Sherril Huff's Federal Tax Lien

A few weeks ago I reported that Sherril Huff had been hit with a federal tax lien and concluded that she lied on a candidate questionnaire when she claimed that she had never failed to pay her taxes.

The Seattle Times later accepted Sherril Huff's explanation that the lien was due to a mere misunderstanding and that she did not lie on the questionnaire and did not fail to pay her taxes. As "proof", the Times accepted a single letter from the IRS which "reduced its calculation of taxes and penalties owed". But the Times didn't publish the IRS letter, let alone any of Huff's other tax records, so how do we know it is dispositive proof that she did not fail to pay taxes?

Case in point: A week later the Times completely botched their report on the canvassing board ruling about Huff's King County residence. The Times initially misreported that

King County Elections Director Sherril Huff is eligible to run in the Feb. 3 election to keep her job, the county Canvassing Board ruled Thursday.

But they made no such ruling and it was only after I read the original canvassing board ruling and pointed out the error that the Times corrected their report.

If I had to bet, I'd bet the Times also jumped to an incorrect conclusion on Huff's IRS letter. But I'm willing to be proven wrong. There's an easy way to settle this. The Times should publish the IRS letter and let their readers, including tax experts, evaluate whether it is dispositive proof that Huff had paid all of her taxes.

After all, the Times posted source documents with yesterday's report on Julie Kempf. Why shouldn't they also post source documents that were provided by Huff in her own defense?

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at January 26, 2009 12:58 PM | Email This

Comments

1. Why? Because they're the Seattle Times. Definitive proof of "facts" is not required in their bizarro world.

Posted by: diamondshards on January 26, 2009 01:07 PM

2. Stefan Sharkansky: Doing the work the MSM seems to have forgotten how to do....

Posted by: Michele on January 26, 2009 01:27 PM

3. It's almost comical how in the tank they are for the system, isn't it?

Posted by: cliff on January 26, 2009 01:41 PM

4. An IRS Lien is the result of NOT paying your taxes. Duh.
The Seattle Times ought to consult an independent Tax Attorney on this one...rather than relying on some KLOWN with a Journalism Degree to ferret out the truth on a tax issue.

PS--
Anyone currently in Journalism School.....CHANGE COURSE TODAY!! Do something worthwhile...not screw around covering up and marginalizing/minimizing the truth like the Times is doing here.

Posted by: Mr. Cynical on January 26, 2009 02:39 PM

5. You guys keep this up and I just might become a conservative. Considering that I'm fiscally conservative already... I just can't get the socially conservative thing.

But either way, keep up the good work. Being from the Chicago area, I have no real love for the Democratic Party, but King County is definitely a sewer of corruption.

If only Toby Nixon would have run for King County Elections Director...

Posted by: Gentry Lange on January 26, 2009 06:35 PM

6. Gentry, since you're a fiscal conservative, will you run for congress? We need SEVERAL fiscal conservatives over there in DC. Would love to see you there instead of McDermott :-)

Posted by: Michele on January 26, 2009 07:39 PM

7. The new precedent is to cheat like hell on your taxes and if you get caught all you have to say
is it was a "mistake" or an "oversight".

Posted by: mark on January 27, 2009 08:32 AM

8. Thanks for the kind thought, Gentry.

Posted by: Toby Nixon on January 27, 2009 10:36 AM

9. Stefan asks, "Why shouldn't they also post source documents that were provided by Huff in her own defense?"

I'm guessing that Huff didn't give them the documents or the right to post them. Should a candidate for county office release IRS correspondence? Maybe if it becomes a significant campaign issue, but if the Times is convinced she did nothing wrong, and there's not a lot of public clamor, it's reasonable for her to focus on the issues.

Posted by: Bruce on January 27, 2009 10:38 AM

10. Well thanks Michelle. Also Toby, I'm happy to have anyone who honestly wants to reform the election process. And considering you and Stefan are the two Republicans I always see walking their walk, it's not hard to see honest people working on improving the world... regardless of party affiliation.

However, I am quite busy running my new start-up business so any major campaign is a little ways off for now. Though I am learning everything that I really dislike about government lately first hand... besides just the current state of voting systems in Washington State.

Posted by: Gentry Lange on January 27, 2009 06:56 PM