By , ,
Published June 25, 2015
It is difficult to believe.
In testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Thursday, the Treasury Inspector General (IG) for Tax Administration is expected to reveal that IRS employees destroyed critical evidence during an investigation of the agency’s unlawful targeting of conservative and Tea Party groups.
According to Fox News, critical evidence was destroyed during the investigation into the IRS targeting scandal, months after the agency was told to preserve documents. According to the IG, as many as 24,000 emails were lost because 422 backup tapes were erased.
And in his prepared testimony, J. Russell George says those tapes “most likely” contained emails to and from former IRS top official Lois Lerner, who is at the center of this targeting scandal.
Without question, we have an IRS that is out of control. We have an IRS that is unaccountable. We have an IRS that operates under its own set of rules.
This latest revelation is outrageous and clearly shows what we have suspected all along: this targeting scheme was well-coordinated and the IRS issued a full-court press to withhold and now, apparently, destroy evidence.
The IG is expected to testify that his office found no direct evidence that the destruction of these emails was intentional. Whether it’s accidental or intentional, it is inexcusable.
The fact is, as Fox News reveals, the destruction of these emails came ten months after there was a preservation order issued – prohibiting the IRS from destroying any evidence in the case.
Let’s put this into context. This new and troubling revelation comes just weeks after another admission: As Congress began its investigation into the unlawful targeting scheme, the IRS used “hundreds of attorneys” to hide critical information from Congress.
In Congressional testimony earlier this month, the IRS set up a previously unknown “special project team” comprised of “hundreds of attorneys,” including the IRS Chief Counsel (one of only two politically appointed positions at the IRS). The “special project” this team was given? Concealing information from Congress.
Without question, we have an IRS that is out of control. We have an IRS that is unaccountable. We have an IRS that operates under its own set of rules.
That’s exactly why the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) is in federal court pursuing a massive lawsuit in which we represent dozens of organizations who were unlawfully targeted by the IRS.
While this latest revelation is deeply disturbing, it is very likely there will be more revelations of this sort. That is why it is so important for Congressional investigators to continue their probe to get the facts -- to unearth the truth – and hold those responsible for this scandal accountable.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/our-out-of-control-irs-what-really-happened-to-lost-tea-party-emails