Ridiculing the IRS assertion that a computer crash caused the permanent loss of over two years of emails to and from a key figure in the Tea Party targeting scandal, Republicans moved Monday to get answers as they summoned the IRS chief to two hearings early next week.
"We are simply not going to accept the IRS claim that these documents are not recoverable," said Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA).
Boustany joined the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), in sending a letter to President Obama on the matter, asking for emails between ex-IRS official Lois Lerner and any Executive Branch officials.
Here is the text of that GOP letter:
Dear Mr. President,
As you know, the House Committee on Ways and Means (Committee) is conducting an investigation related to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s May 14, 2013 audit report, “Inappropriate Criteria Were Used to Identify Tax-Exempt Applications for Review.” The day after the report was released you promised to “work with Congress as it performs its oversight role. And [to] work hand in hand with Congress to get this thing fixed.” Given the revelation last Friday, June 13, 2014 that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had lost key evidence relating to the targeting of conservative organizations on the basis of name and policy position, I am writing to request critical assistance that only the White House can provide.
Throughout its ongoing investigation, the Committee has uncovered material evidence of wrongdoing at the IRS, including specific actions of former IRS official Lois Lerner, and, on April 9, 2014, referred this evidence to the Department of Justice. However, last week, the IRS claimed that a technological failure resulted in the loss of all emails between former Exempt Organizations Director Lois Lerner and parties outside of the IRS for the period between January 1, 2009 and April 2011. The Committee is in possession of some Lerner emails for this time period, but only those written to or from other IRS employees. Any emails written to or from Lerner and persons outside of the IRS would, according to the agency’s own admission, be lost.
In order to ensure accountability and “get this thing fixed,” please provide by June [.], 2014, all communications between Lois Lerner and any persons within the Executive Office of the President (EOP) for the period between January 1, 2009 and May 1, 2011. Also, please indicate in writing when the EOP was informed, and by whom, that the IRS had lost critical Lerner documents.
As for the White House, officials publicly frowned on the GOP for questioning the story of the IRS.
"You've never heard of a computer crashing before?" the next White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, asked reporters aboard Air Force One, as he embraced the explanation offered by the IRS.
"I think it's entirely reasonable. And it's fact," said Earnest.
Here's that exchange from Air Force One:
Q Just one thing about the IRS. The IRS said that a computer crash led to an untold number of Lois Lerner’s emails being -- they just disappeared apparently. Do you think that’s a reasonable explanation? I think a lot of technical experts say, well, you know, e-mails aren’t stored on a computer, they’re stored on a cloud somewhere. Does that seem like a reasonable thing for the IRS to be telling congressional investigators who are outraged that these e-mails have gone missing?
MR. EARNEST: You’ve never heard of a computer crashing before?
Q I think e-mails generally are not stored on a computer; they’re stored on a server somewhere. And the IRS’s explanation for these e-mails going missing was that her computer crashed. So a lot of people are skeptical of, one, that that’s a truthful answer, and two, that they’re not trying to mislead Congress or trying to hide something in these e-mails. So I’m wondering if you think that’s reasonable.
MR. EARNEST: I think it’s entirely reasonable, because it’s the truth and it’s a fact, and speculation otherwise I think is indicative of the kinds of conspiracies that are propagated around this story. And they’re propagated in a way that has left people with a very mistaken impression about what exactly occurred.
The fact of the matter is, 67,000 e-mails either sent by or received by Lois Lerner have been provided to Congress. So if we are trying to hide Lois Lerner’s e-mails from congressional oversight, there’s a pretty large loophole. Thousands of those e-mails actually relate to the time period covered by the hard drive crash that you referred to. So we have -- or IRS, I should say, has been engaged in an effort to track down e-mails that she may have sent or may have received. And tens of thousands of those have also been provided to Congress.
So there is ample evidence to indicate that a good-faith effort has been made by the IRS to cooperate with congressional oversight. And the far-fetched skepticism expressed by some Republican members of Congress I think is not at all surprising and not particularly believable.
That was the view of the White House. Republicans obviously see things much differently.
They'll have the chance to seek public answers in two House hearings next week.
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