The American people still need to hear from Lois Lerner. That’s a point that can’t be made often enough.
Remember her? She’s the IRS official who gave a statement before Congress declaring herself innocent of any wrongdoing — and then promptly took the Fifth.
Recently, Congress unearthed another IRS e-mail on which she was copied, talking about taking “off-plan” a discussion about how to harass the 501(c)4 groups the IRS had targeted. Meanwhile, leaks from officials involved in the investigation claim the FBI has not found anything criminal.
That’s an amazing finding, given the statement by the American Center for Law and Justice, which represents the IRS targets, that the FBI hadn’t interviewed a single of the center’s 41 clients.
Congress has been trying to get to the bottom of things with hearings, but it has not had much help from the administration. That’s partly because the Department of Justice is hiding behind the idea that it can’t do anything that might jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation.
We believe this gets priorities backward.
The Constitution does not hold government agencies such as the IRS accountable to the FBI. The Constitution holds the government accountable to the people, acting through their elected representatives in Congress.
Rep. Trey Gowdy, one of the heroes in this effort, signed a letter this month to Attorney General Eric Holder, asking for Congress to be briefed. Let’s hope they persist.
Because the real resolution of this issue is not whether Lerner goes to jail but whether the American people get to learn what the heck went on at an agency that has the power to ruin people.
The point is, we still need Lerner to testify, and one way to get her is to offer immunity. Of course, Congress would be wise not to make such an offer until it has the documents and evidence it has requested in hand — as well as an idea from others it has interviewed what she likely knows and what questions it wants to ask.
Remember, even if not charged by Justice, she can go to jail if she lies to Congress.
The president says not a “smidgen” of corruption has been unearthed. Like Gowdy, we’d like to know how he knows this.
And we hope Congress is making clear that whatever happens with the Justice investigations, the American people need to get Lois Lerner back on that stand to answer questions under oath.