Lois Lerner says she is no Jeffrey Dahmer.
The former Internal Revenue Service official referenced the infamous cannibalistic serial killer as she broke her silence for the first time about last year’s IRS scandal.
Lerner told the website Politico that she has been the recipient of threats and hate mail, describing how one person called her “the worst person ever in the United States.”
“I just thought, ‘Boy, worse than Jeffrey Dahmer?’” Lerner quipped.
Lerner, who led the tax-exempt division of the IRS, was forced out of the agency after she found herself at the center of the scandal over the agency’s targeting of conservative groups for special review in their applications for non-profit status.
In May, the House of Representatives held Lerner in contempt for refusing to testify about her role in the scandal after telling Congress she was innocent of wrongdoing.
During the interview with Politico, Lerner was still defiant: “I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m proud of my career and the job I did for this country.”
Added Lerner: “Regardless of whatever else happens, I know I did the best I could under the circumstances and am not sorry for anything I did.”
Lerner described how tough the last year has been — she has been attacked as a “dirty Jew” and the threats have been serious enough to warrant protection from federal agents — but she refused to discuss her role in targeting conservative groups.
“She studiously avoided answering fundamental questions about her role in the IRS scandal that could land her in deeper trouble with Congress,” Politico explained.
The story noted that Lerner is having trouble finding work to help pay her legal fees. Still, she receives an annual $100,000 pension from the government, a congressional investigator told the outlet.
Much has been made of Lerner’s apparent pro-Democratic Party leanings. The story noted how Lerner wrote emails detailing her opposition to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision — a favorite cause of liberals — and praising legislation proposed by Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen.
But Lerner claimed in the interview that she is “not a political person.”
“What matters is that my personal opinions have never affected my work,” she said.
Understanding how toxic she is, Lerner declined to name the organizations she has been volunteering for because: “I feel like having my name attached does nothing but cause issues for people.”
