Paul L. Caron
Dean





Wednesday, September 21, 2016

The IRS Scandal, Day 1231

IRS Logo 2The Daily Signal, Judiciary Committee Set to Audit Top IRS Tax Agent:

A last-minute deal between House conservatives and Republican leadership delayed a floor vote to impeach the head of the IRS last week. But the top taxman isn’t in the clear just yet.

For the first time, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen will come under oath to plead his case, appearing before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. A product of compromise, that impeachment hearing means different things to different factions of Congress.

Freedom Caucus members, who have been demanding Koskinen’s early retirement for months, see the hearing as a formality necessary to fire Koskinen. Others see it as a prerequisite to a longer impeachment process and an opportunity to afford the taxman his right to due process.

It’s undisputed that Koskinen will face an unfriendly jury Wednesday, though.

Fourteen of the 23 Republican Judiciary Committee members have said already that the taxman is guilty of wrongdoing, including Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, who first filed articles of impeachment last October.

Making matters worse for the IRS chief, seven Freedom Caucus members sit on the committee, including Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who has helped quarterback the effort to send Koskinen into early retirement.

Conservatives argue that Koskinen is unfit to lead the IRS because he obstructed a congressional investigation into the agency’s unfair treatment of tea party groups applying for tax-exempt status before the 2012 elections.

The White House has been unwavering in their support of Koskinen. Speaking at a Democrat fundraiser last week, President Barack Obama said the impeachment effort “is crazy.” And Koskinen, who has hired a personal defense attorney, maintains that those allegations “lack merit.”

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/09/the-irs-scandal-day-1231.html

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