The IRS has finally agreed to hand over all of ex-IRS official Lois Lerner’s emails to the House Committee on Ways and Means, The Daily Caller has learned.
New IRS commissioner John Koskninen previously said that it could take years to provide all of Lerner’s emails to congressional investigators. But Ways and Means’ referral of criminal charges against Lerner to the Department of Justice, coupled with the House of Representatives’ holding Lerner in contempt of Congress Wednesday, has changed the tenor of the investigation into the IRS conservative targeting scandal.
“While it is good that we are finally getting these emails, it should never have taken this long. The agency is finally doing what is right and hopefully this is the last of the delays,” House Ways and Means chairman Rep. Dave Camp said in a statement.
“It is almost a year to the day since Lois Lerner ‘apologized’ for the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups, and we need to get to the bottom of this,” Camp said. “These documents are critical to an investigation that is holding the IRS accountable and ensuring the constitutional rights of these groups are never trampled on again. The Committee will thoroughly review the Lerner documents and follow them wherever they may lead.”
As Washington-based director of exempt organizations for the IRS, Lerner oversaw the improper targeting of conservative groups between 2010 and 2012. Lerner has thus far refused to answer congressional investigators’ questions about her conduct.
The Daily Caller has reported on emails showing Lerner coordinating with White House officials, the Department of Justice, the Federal Election Commission, and the Treasury Department.