WASHINGTON (AP) — The commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service is telling the congressional committee that oversees its activities that he won’t share any more details about lost emails with Congress until the IRS completes its own review.
John Koskinen (KAHS’-kihn-ihn) told the House Ways and Means Committee that “we’re not going to dribble out the information and have it played out in the press.” He accused Republicans of releasing inaccurate, interim information.
The committee is looking into allegations that the IRS improperly reviewed applications of tea party and other conservative groups for tax-exempt status.
Lawmakers have been seeking documents since 2012 related to former IRS executive Lois Lerner’s involvement in the tea party investigation.
The IRS has provided thousands of documents, including many of Lerner’s. But the IRS told Congress a week ago that some of Lerner’s emails were lost in a 2011 computer crash.
Koskinen says eight federal employees connected to the tea party investigation experienced hard drive crashes.
He says Lerner’s hard drive was recycled and presumably destroyed after unsuccessful efforts to recover information on it.
%@AP Links
162-a-16-(Representative Erik Paulsen, R-Minn. and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, during House Ways and Means Committee hearing)-“restore her email”-Congresman Erik paulsen asks whether the central figure in the investigation may have sabotaged her hard drive.((longer version of cut in wrap)) (20 Jun 2014)
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161-w-35-(Jerry Bodlander, AP correspondent, with Representative Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., and IRS commissioner John Koskinen)–The IRS commissioner went before a House panel to discuss missing emails that could be linked to the investigation of the targeting of tea party groups. AP correspondent Jerry Bodlander reports. (20 Jun 2014)
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150-w-36-(Jerry Bodlander, AP correspondent, with IRS Commissioner John Koskinen and Representative Paul Ryan, R-Wis.)–A House panel hears from the IRS commissioner about missing emails linked to a central figure in the targeting of tea party groups seeking tax exempt status. AP correspondent Jerry Bodlander reports. (20 Jun 2014)
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144-a-09-(Representative Dave Camp, R-Mich., chairman, House Ways and Means Committee and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, during committee hearing)-“welcome to them”-House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp says he’d like the identifying numbers from the hard drives in question. (20 Jun 2014)
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141-a-18-(IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, testifying before House Ways and Means Committee)-“tried their best”-IRS Commissioner John Koskinen says multiple efforts to retrieve the data from the hard drive failed. (20 Jun 2014)
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APPHOTO DCSA106: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, June 20, 2014, before the House Ways and Means Committee as they continue probe of whether tea party groups were improperly targeted for increased scrutiny by the IRS. The IRS asserts it can’t produce emails from seven officials connected to the tea party investigation because of computer crashes, including the emails from Lois Lerner, the former IRS official at the center of the investigation who has invoked her Fifth Amendment right at least nine times to avoid answering lawmakers’ questions. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (20 Jun 2014)
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