Late last week the IRS announced the agency has "lost" two years of emails between January 2009 and April 2011 belonging to former head of tax exempt organizations Lois Lerner. Nobody actually believes them and statements under oath from IRS officials contradict the claim.
Now the organization representing dozens of tea party groups in a federal lawsuit against the IRS, the American Center for Law and Justice, is weighing in by calling the latest statement from the IRS the "most egregious stonewalling tactic" yet to come out of the Obama administration.
“To assert that a computer glitch eliminated key evidence in this case is the most egregious stonewalling tactic to date by the IRS,” Chief Counsel of the ACLJ Jay Sekulow said in a statement. “This latest assertion defies logic, makes absolutely no sense, and represents an incredible insult to members of Congress and the American people who demand accountability in an illegal targeting scheme that gets worse with each passing week. After learning the IRS gave the FBI more than a million confidential documents of taxpayer information, the IRS now wants us to believe that critical evidence in the case simply disappeared because of a computer glitch. This Administration’s arrogance and disrespect for the rule of law is at an all-time high.”
ACLJ is currently assessing what legal options can be used to obtain the emails the IRS says are "lost." Further, Sekulow is again calling for a special prosecutor.
“We intend to get to the bottom of this unlawful targeting scandal through our federal lawsuit," Sekulow said. “With these latest troubling revelations, however, it is now more important than ever for a special prosecutor to be appointed to get the truth. The American people deserve the facts – the truth – not an ongoing effort to stonewall and mislead.”
Last week we also learned the IRS and Lois Lerner sent a massive data file, which included confidential taxpayer information belonging to conservative groups, to the FBI for investigation and possible criminal prosecution just before the 2010 midterm elections. That revelation prompted Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa and Subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan to reiterate the need for a special prosecutor.