The IRS Scandal, Day 860

The Spectrum op-ed:  With Koskinen at Helm, IRS Cannot be Trusted, by Jason Chaffetz (Chair, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform):

Having lied to Congress, destroyed documents under subpoena, and targeted people based on their political beliefs, the IRS and its commissioner John Koskinen want a bigger budget. ...

The commissioner’s lack of regard for his legal obligations is unquestionably a serious matter. In fact, earlier this summer, 52 members of Congress sent a letter to the President urging him to immediately fire the commissioner. ...

Koskinen came before Congress and made promises. He assured us he would comply with a congressional subpoena seeking Lois Lerner’s emails. Not only did he fail to keep that promise, we later learned he did not look in earnest for the information.

After Koskinen complained of the extensive cost and effort being undertaken to locate the documents, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) learned from employees at a West Virginia data center that no one had ever even asked for backup tapes of Lois Lerner’s emails

In addition to lying to Congress, Koskinen allowed documents under subpoena and subject to an internal preservation notice to be destroyed. On March 4, 2014 (coincidentally, the same day President Obama told the country there was not a “smidgeon of corruption” at IRS), backup tapes containing up to 24,000 Lois Lerner emails were destroyed.

But even more serious than the commissioner’s misdeeds is the fact that the American people can no longer trust the IRS. ...

As long as Koskinen is at the helm, with his track record of lies, obfuscation and deceit, we cannot be confident in the IRS.

More money will not make the IRS less political. It will not make the agency more trustworthy. It will only empower an agency that has already gotten far off track. Until they have a leadership change, they will simply have to learn to prioritize their resources. Instead of spending money on bonus checks, union activities and parody videos, perhaps they could focus their energy on earning back the trust of the American people by focusing on fraud prevention and improving customer service.

Meanwhile, I will continue to demand documents, solicit testimony and keep digging until we get to the truth and fix this broken agency.

• The IRS Scandal, Day 859 (Sept. 15, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 858 (Sept. 14, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 857 (Sept. 13, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 856 (Sept. 12, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 855 (Sept. 11, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 854 (Sept. 10, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 853 (Sept. 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 852 (Sept. 8, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 851 (Sept. 7, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 850 (Sept. 6, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 849 (Sept. 5, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 848 (Sept. 4, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 847 (Sept. 3, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 846 (Sept. 2, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 845 (Sept. 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 844 (Aug. 31, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 843 (Aug. 30, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 842 (Aug. 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 841 (Aug. 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 840 (Aug. 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 839 (Aug. 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 838 (Aug. 25, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 837 (Aug. 24, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 836 (Aug. 23, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 835 (Aug. 22, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 834 (Aug. 21, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 833 (Aug. 20, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 832 (Aug. 19, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 831 (Aug. 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 830 (Aug. 17, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 829 (Aug. 16, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 828 (Aug. 15, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 827 (Aug. 14, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 826 (Aug. 13, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 825 (Aug. 12, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 824 (Aug. 11, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 823 (Aug. 10, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 822 (Aug. 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 821 (Aug. 8, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 820 (Aug. 7, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 819 (Aug. 6, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 818 (Aug. 5, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 817 (Aug. 4, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 816 (Aug. 3, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 815 (Aug. 2, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 814 (Aug. 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 813 (July 31, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 812 (July 30, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 811 (July 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 810 (July 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 809 (July 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 808 (July 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 807 (July 25, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 806 (July 24, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 805 (July 23, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 804 (July 22, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 803 (July 21, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 802 (July 20, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 801 (July 19, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 701-800 (April 10, 2015 - July 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 601-700 (Dec. 31, 2014 - April 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 501-600 (Sept. 22, 2014-Dec. 30, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 401-500 (June 14, 2014 - Sept. 21,2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 301-400 (Mar. 6, 2014 - June 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 201-300 (Nov. 26, 2013 - Mar. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 101-200 (Aug. 18, 2013 - Nov. 25, 2013)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1-100 (May 10, 2013 - Aug. 17, 2013)