WASHINGTON — John Boehner, the highest-ranking Republican elected official in the country, said Wednesday that he wants to see those responsible for the IRS scandal put behind bars.
“My question isn’t about who’s going to have to resign,” the speaker of the House said during a Capitol news conference, discussing the revelation that the Internal Revenue Service has been targeting certain conservative organizations because of their political views.
“My question is who’s going to jail over this scandal,” he said.
Pressed by a reporter about whom he thinks should go to jail, Boehner said, “There are laws in place to prevent this type of abuse. Someone made a conscious decision to harass and to hold up these requests for tax exempt status. I think we need to know who they are, whether they violated the law. Clearly somebody violated the law.”
Others have broached the notion of jail time. Over in the Senate, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul introduced a resolution on Wednesday stating that “an independent authority should be authorized to investigate and, if applicable, seek criminal charges against any individuals who authorized or were involved in targeting people of the United States based on their political views.”
