The IRS has apologized to Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., after she received an unsigned form letter from the IRS in response to her request for an investigation into the Clinton Foundation.
Blackburn was furious at the response, and called it “unbelievably disrespectful” for a member of Congress to be brushed off in that way.
Blackburn wrote the IRS to say the agency should review the Clinton Foundation’s tax-exempt status, after it was revealed that the foundation failed to report millions of dollars in donations from foreign governments.
In reply, the IRS sent a letter starting with “Dear Sir of Madam,” which said the information she submitted would be considered.
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen wrote Blackburn personally and said the form letter should have at least been signed, but said the new employee processing these requests has not had her name entered into the computer system yet.
“We will be updating the system to include her signature soon, and I apologize that the letter that you received was unsigned,” Koskinen wrote.
Blackburn said she appreciated the gesture.
“We appreciate that Commissioner Koskinen is not letting this issue go ignored,” she said. “It is appropriate that the IRS has issued an apology and corrected the record.”
“Congressional inquiries are deserving of respect and a certain level of tact, which was glaringly absent in the agency’s initial response,” she added.
Koskinen made no mention of the “Dear Sir or Madam” start to the letter and whether that part would also be personally addressed to members of Congress next time. Read his letter here:
