Two Republican lawmakers argued in a Wednesday op-ed that it’s time to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen for allowing evidence to be destroyed after Congress sought information about the IRS targeting scandal.
Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., also said Koskinen hid the fact that evidence was destroyed for four months, even as he promised all the documents would eventually be provided.
“Congress has the duty to hold Commissioner Koskinen accountable for failing to live up to his obligations of service to the American people,” they wrote in an op-ed for Fox News. “As even President Obama has said, we must help restore confidence going forward.”
Jordan and DeSantis said Koskinen showed up after members had subpoenaed the IRS for all communications sent and received by Lois Lerner, who was in charge of tax-exempt applications. Congress was after that information for proof that Lerner and other officials slow-walked requests for tax-exempt status from conservative organizations.
But under Koskinen’s watch, the IRS ended up erasing hundreds of backup systems that destroyed thousands of Lerner’s emails.
“Rather than restore the American peoples’ confidence in the agency, Commissioner Koskinen instead stonewalled Congress’ investigation, provided false testimony under oath, disregarded multiple subpoenas and was complicit in allowing evidence to be destroyed,” they wrote.
They also said Koskinen worked to “keep Congress in the dark.”
They wrote that in early 2014, Koskinen was made aware of a gap in Lerner’s recovered emails, but said Koskinen didn’t tell Congress for four months.
“For years, the IRS Commissioner obstructed congressional oversight efforts, obfuscated justice, and provided false testimony under oath,” they wrote. “That alone would meet the Federalist Papers’ standard for impeachment of a civil servant: ‘the abuse or violation of some public trust.'”
