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<\/a><\/p>\nDuring the a status hearing<\/a> today, Sullivan warned that the failure to follow his order was serious and the IRS and Justice Department\u2019s excuses for not following his July 1 order were \u201cindefensible, ridiculous, and absurd.\u201d\u00a0 He asked the IRS\u2019 Justice Department lawyer Geoffrey Klimas, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t the IRS comply\u201d with his court order and \u201cwhy shouldn\u2019t the Court hold the Commissioner of the IRS in contempt.\u201d\u00a0 Judge Sullivan referenced his contempt findings against Justice Department prosecutors in the prosecution of late Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) and reminded the Justice Department attorney he had the ability to detain him for contempt.\u00a0 Warning he would tolerate no further disregard of his orders, Judge Sullivan said, \u201cI will haul into court the IRS Commissioner to hold him personally into contempt.\u201d<\/p>\n After the hearing, Judge Sullivan issued the following \u201cminute order<\/a>\u201d:<\/p>\n At the July 29, 2015 status hearing, the Government agreed that the Court\u2019s July 1, 2015 oral order from the bench was clear and enforceable.\u00a0 Nonetheless, the Government reasoned it inappropriate to file a motion for reconsideration until a written order was issued.\u00a0 As expressed at the hearing, the Government\u2019s reasoning is nonsensical.\u00a0 Officers of the Court who fail to comply with Court orders will be held in contempt.\u00a0 Also, in the event of non-compliance with future Court orders, the Commissioner of the IRS and others shall be directed to show cause as to why they should not be held in contempt of Court.\u00a0 The Court\u2019s July 1, 2015 ruling from the bench stands: (1) the Government shall produce relevant documents every Monday; (2) the Government\u2019s document production shall be accompanied by a status report that indicates (a) whether TIGTA has turned over any new documents to the IRS, (b) if so, the number of documents, and (c) a timeframe for the IRSs production of those documents. Signed by Judge Emmet G. Sullivan on July 29, 2015.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n At a July 1, 2015, status conference, Sullivan ordered the IRS to begin producing, every week, the nearly 1,800 newly recovered Lerner emails responsive to Judicial Watch\u2019s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.\u00a0 Despite the court order, the IRS did not produce any Lerner emails until July 15.\u00a0 The IRS also failed to provide Judicial Watch a status report of the Lerner email production issues, as also ordered by Sullivan.\u00a0 Last week, Judge Sullivan ordered<\/em><\/a> sua sponte<\/em> the parties to appear for a status hearing today after Judicial Watch raised concerns<\/a> about the IRS\u2019 failure to comply with his orders to release the newly discovered Lerner emails and status updates on its production of previously \u201cmissing\u201d documents.<\/p>\n The developments come in Judicial Watch\u2019s FOIA lawsuit<\/a> seeking documents about the Obama IRS\u2019 targeting and harassment of Tea Party and conservative opponents of President Obama (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. Internal Revenue Service\u00a0<\/em><\/a>(No. 1:13-cv-01559)).\u00a0 Judicial Watch\u2019s litigation forced the IRS first to admit that Lerner\u2019s emails were supposedly missing and, then, that the emails were on IRS\u2019 back-up systems.<\/p>\n