GOP extends effort to oust IRS chief

WASHINGTON—Congressional Republicans convened today to investigate the misconduct of Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen, searching for a way to impeach him for destroying evidence his agency discriminated against conservative nonprofit groups.

“[W]e have no reason to have any confidence that Mr. Koskinen will run one of the most powerful agencies with any integrity,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. “It is time for Congress to act and remove him.”

House Republicans claim Koskinen lied to Congress under oath, misled investigators, and destroyed condemning evidence—gross negligence and grounds for impeachment, Chaffetz said. But Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee point to a closed Department of Justice investigation of the IRS, which found no criminal activity by Koskinen or anyone else.

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the committee’s top Democrat, said the IRS hearings have become a partisan pursuit and Congress has better things to do.

“We do not rush into impeachment for short-term political gain. We can only address allegations that are actually supported by the record,” he said. “This resolution to impeach Koskinen fails at every measure. It arises from the worst partisan instincts. It is not based on facts. And it has virtually no chance of success in the Senate.”

Complaints first surfaced in 2011 that the IRS was forcing some conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status to submit to unusually lengthy paperwork requirements and endure long delays in their applications. In 2013, reports confirmed the IRS singled out some nonprofits for extra scrutiny based on their political ideologies. President Barack Obama called the targeting inexcusable, and hired Koskinen to take over as the new IRS chief, “to restore confidence going forward.”

But no one ever got punished. And Lois Lerner, the head of the IRS tax emption divisions, declined to cooperate with a congressional investigation against her. She retired in late 2013 with her full pension.

Since taking over in December 2013, Koskinen repeatedly told Congress he would go to “great lengths” to provide all the information needed to complete its investigation. But despite two subpoena requests and three orders to preserve evidence, 422 backup tapes containing 24,000 emails vanished in 2014.

Republicans want someone to take responsibility, and all roads lead to Koskinen. The GOP believes he destroyed emails proving the IRS knowingly discriminated against conservative groups because it didn’t agree with their political leanings—a violation of their First Amendment rights.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, admitted the IRS didn’t do everything the right way but said bad management is not criminal and should not lead to impeachment.

One of the committee’s witnesses, Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., told his colleagues whether Koskinen destroyed evidence intentionally or not is irrelevant. IRS officials should not receive more clemency than every other American, he said.

“Is it acceptable for the head of one of the powerful agencies in government to operate under a lower standard of acceptable conduct than that which is applied to the taxpayers the commissioner is charged with auditing?” DeSantis asked. “It would be unthinkable for a taxpayer to treat an IRS audit the way that the IRS has treated the congressional investigation. If a taxpayer destroyed documents subject to a summons by the IRS, the taxpayer would be in a world of hurt.”

The committee invited Koskinen to the hearing, but he declined to testify.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said trying to impeach Koskinen is a solution in search of a problem because it’s impossible to determine whether the destruction of documents was intentional or just plain incompetence.

Republicans seized on that logic.

Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, pulled out his phone and read a section of Wikipedia detailing the Watergate scandal. He said the resemblances are striking and Koskinen’s offenses might even be worse than President Richard Nixon’s because all Nixon did was hide evidence, not destroy it entirely.

One of the biggest proponents of punishing Koskinen, Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told me after the hearing Congress may not be able to prove criminal intent, but it doesn’t need to. Congress has shown Koskinen to be negligent, derelict in his duty, and guilty of a breach in public trust—all standards for impeachment.

“If I had to defend that kind of record, I wouldn’t show up to the hearing either,” Jordan said.

When asked about the possibility of impeaching Koskinen during a contentious election year, Jordan said Congress has the moral duty to try: “Never forget the underlying offense, that’s why you have to do it. When something this onerous takes place, where people’s First Amendment liberties were violated, you have to hold people responsible.”