Paul L. Caron
Dean





Friday, May 29, 2015

The IRS Scandal, Day 750

IRS Logo 2Letter From All 24 Republican Members of the House Ways & Means Committee to Loretta Lynch (Attorney General of the United States) (May 28, 2015):

As Members of the House Ways and Means Committee we are writing to inquire about the status of the Committee's April 9, 2014 referral of Lois Lerner to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution as supplemented July 30, 2014. See attachments.

On March 31, 2015, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ronald Machen, wrote U.S. House Speaker John Boehner stating that the U.S. Attorney's office would not prosecute Lois Lerner for contempt of Congress based on her refusal to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, despite offering a brief opening statement before asserting her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Mr. Machen's letter responded to Speaker Boehner's referral of Ms. Lerner of May 7, 2014.

Mr. Machen's letter did not address the April 9, 2014, criminal referral of Ms. Lerner issued by the House Ways and Means Committee under my predecessor, Chairman David Camp. In that referral, the Committee identified three specific acts undertaken by Ms. Lerner that may have violated one or more criminal statutes, including that:

  • Ms. Lerner used her position to improperly influence agency action against only conservative organizations, denying these groups due process and equal protection rights under the law.
  • Ms. Lerner impeded official investigations by providing misleading statements in response to questions from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Ad ministration (TIGTA).
  • Ms. Lerner risked exposing, and may actually have disclosed, confidential taxpayer information, in apparent violation of Internal Revenue Code section 6103 by using her personal email to conduct official business.

The Committee continues to believe that these serious charges should be pursed by the Department of Justice. We would appreciate receiving an update on the status of the referral as soon as possible. Thank you for your  assistance in this matter.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2015/05/the.html

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Comments

A letter? Ooooo, that will show Obama's latest corruptocrat how Republicans can sneer in her general direction. What next, hurt her feelings with other Monty Python insults? The Stupid Party demonstrates it's cowardice and voluntary impotence yet again.

Posted by: Andrew Russell | May 29, 2015 2:04:30 PM