Thanks to the work done by Judicial Watch we know former IRS official Lois Lerner, the woman at the center of the tea party targeting scandal, worked with the Department of Justice in efforts to criminally prosecute conservatives for "lying" on application forms. In reality, Lerner wanted them prosecuted for opposing President Obama's political agenda.
Now, we're learning more about her reaction to congressional subpoenas and why she refused (twice) to testify in front of the House Oversight Committee about her actions. Her reasoning? Because Republicans are "evil" and "dishonest." From Fox News:
The emails -- part of a report released Aug. 6 by the Senate Finance Committee -- offer a revealing look at Lerner, who used to head the division that processes applications for tax-exempt status and was at the center of the scandal over the alleged targeting of conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
The bipartisan report found evidence that both the Obama administration’s political agenda, and the personal politics of IRS employees, including Lerner, impacted how the IRS did its job, according to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the Finance Committee.
A deeper look at the communications, first reported by Politico, shows Lerner taking aim at lawmakers for their tough questioning, particularly following a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in 2014.
“Yesterday was a doozy. They called me back to testify on the IRS ‘scandal,’ and I tool (sic) the 5th again because they had been so evil and dishonest in my lawyer’s dealings with them,” Lerner told a friend in a March 6, 2014 email, adding “this is very bad behavior from our elected officials.”
As a reminder, Lerner was put on three months of paid vacation administrative leave before retiring last year with a full pension and benefits. In the meantime, thousands of her emails have been "lost."
Two weeks ago a federal judge threatened to haul IRS Commissioner John Koskinen into court for a contempt charge over stonewalling court orders surrounding Lerner's behavior and email trail.
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