The IRS Scandal, Day 904

Canada Free Press, The Koskinen Impeachment: A Factual Necessity and a Likely Political Failure:

Pursuing impeachment against an agency leader is exceedingly rare, and a step beyond contempt charges, which is the tool House Republicans tried to use against both Lerner and former Attorney General Eric Holder in past disputes.

While impeachment is often thought of as a congressional weapon reserved for presidents, it can apply to “all civil officers of the United States,” on the grounds of treason, bribery or other “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

The charges against Koskinen should not be difficult to prove. They’re backed by plenty of documented detail. ...

Given the seriousness of Koskinen’s actions, combined with a Democratic administration’s refusal to enforce the law, you’d think this would be seen as an obvious and necessary case of Congress stepping in to provide accountability where the executive branch has utterly refused and/or failed to do so. But we all know that’s not how political/media narratives work these days. Even conservatives expect the Koskinen impeachment to be portrayed as ridiculous folly on the part of Republicans, because there is virtually no chance of getting 13 Senate Democrats to join with their 54 Republican colleagues to achieve the two-thirds vote necessary for conviction. ...

I’m sure Krauthammer is right about the politics because we’ve seen how this sort of thing has played out in other scenarios. The evidence against Koskinen will be convincing, but Democrats and the media will claim that because it all involves his defiance of congressional directives - and in their opinion Congress shouldn’t have been investigating in the first place - he really didn’t do anything wrong. They used the same argument in defense of Bill Clinton. Sure, he lied under oath and obstructed justice, but there never should have been an investigation in the first place. That is no legal defense of any kind, but they made it work as a political defense and they’ll try to do the same thing with Koskinen.

• Accounting Web, Should IRS Chief John Koskinen Be Impeached?
• American Thinker, House Moves to Impeach IRS Commissioner
• Forbes, Impeach IRS Chief, Say Republicans Alleging Lies, Obstruction
• Nonprofit Quarterly, House GOP Moves to Impeach IRS Chief over Nonprofit Scandal
• Washington Examiner, Impeachment for embattled IRS head moves forward
• The Week, House Republicans Launch Effort to Impeach IRS Commissioner

• The IRS Scandal, Day 903 (Oct. 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 902 (Oct. 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 901 (Oct. 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 801-900 (July 19, 2015 - Oct. 26, 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)