Politics

Lois Lerner Called Conservatives ‘Assholes,’ Fantasized About Working At Obama Group

Chuck Ross Investigative Reporter
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New emails released by the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday provide more evidence that ex-IRS official Lois Lerner is not fond of conservatives.

“So we don’t need to worry about teRroists [sic]. It’s our own crazies that will take us down,” Lerner wrote in a Nov. 9, 2012 email exchange with an IRS colleague.

Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp revealed the emails in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

Lerner’s disdain for the right is central to an investigation into whether she targeted conservative groups who were seeking tax-exempt status. Republicans have accused the former director of the IRS’s exempt organizations division of possible criminal wrongdoing in targeting the groups.

“This email shows that Ms. Lerner’s mistreatment of conservative groups was driven by her personal hostility toward conservatives,” Camp wrote.

“This new evidence clearly demonstrates why Ms. Lerner not only targeted conservatives, but denied such groups their rights to due process and equal protection under the law.”

Camp claims that the emails “build on ample evidence” that Lerner used her official position “to improperly influence agency action against only conservative organizations.”

The Michigan Republican pointed out that Lerner subjected the conservative Crossroads GPS to an audit and personally denied their application for tax-exempt status.

Lerner’s email mocking conservative “crazies” came at the end of an exchange with an unnamed colleague.

“Well, you should hear the whacko wing of the GOP. The US is through; too many foreigners sucking the teat; time to hunker down, buy ammo and food, and prepare for the end. The right wing radio shows are scary to listen to,” wrote Lerner’s correspondent.

“And I’m talking about the hosts of the shows,” the colleague wrote. “The callers are rabid.”

“Great. Maybe we are through if there are that many assholes,” replied Lerner in the email, though the pejorative was redacted in the email provided by Camp.

In his letter, Camp reminds Holder of other possible biases displayed by Lerner. In response to a news article about the pro-Obama non-profit Organizing for Action, Lerner wrote to another colleague, “Oh – maybe I can get the DC office job!”

Camp called on Holder to “aggressively investigate” Lerner’s actions. So far, Holder has resisted calls for a special prosecutor to look into the issue.

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