Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called Wednesday for House Republicans to appoint a select committee to investigate the Internal Revenue Service’s scrutiny of conservative groups.
No criminal charges have yet been filed in the ongoing investigation by the Justice Department since the IRS admitted to applying extra scrutiny to conservative groups applying for tax exempt status.
The investigation is being led by a donor to President Barack Obama’s campaign, which Republicans say casts doubts on the credibility of the investigation.
“To me it’s a no-brainer” that someone from outside the Justice Department should be leading the investigation, said South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham at a hearing with Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. Cruz expressed similar sentiments at the hearing.
On a conference call later on Wednesday, Cruz called for the appointment of a select committee by the House, which would be led by outside counsel. He said such an effort was necessary because neither Senate Democrats nor the media was doing enough to hold the administration accountable on the subject.
Cruz criticized Democrats for crying “crocodile tears” when the IRS’s behavior was exposed last May, but accused them of now being on board with using the agency to attack “political enemies.”
“That is shameful and it needs to be called out,” Cruz said.