That’s quite some efficiency. Back in March, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told a House committee investigating the targeting of conservative organizations that it “would take years to produce” all the data Congress demanded.
Now, just a day after the full House voted to hold former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt for her refusal to testify, the IRS told the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Michigan Republican Dave Camp, it will hand over all the Lerner e-mails related to the scandal.
We agree with Rep. Camp that, though it never should have taken this long, it’s a welcome move. Whether or not Lois Lerner goes to jail or is held in contempt was never the issue for us. We want to know what happened.
Many of the press accounts we read suggest there is no scandal here unless the targeting of Americans for their conservative political beliefs can be tied back to President Obama or the White House.
We beg to differ. Wouldn’t it be even more frightening if a federal agency as powerful as the IRS on its own decided to use its vast powers to squelch others on the basis of politics and ideology?