By Congressman Tom Cole
Americans have become all too familiar with the recent confusing and shady practices of the Internal Revenue Service, and no one looks forward to seeing an envelope from them in their mailbox. It is one of the most unpopular government agencies because it is also one of the most powerful in its ability to literally ruin people’s lives.
Americans justifiably expect an agency with this kind of power to have internal controls which ensure that American taxpayers are treated fairly and equitably. Unfortunately, the IRS has conducted itself in an opposite manner in the past couple of years, and has angered many Americans over its heavy handed partisanship and its willingness to put the awesome power of the agency to work by punishing ideological opponents. To be specific, the evidence indicates that the IRS violated many American’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech by intentionally denying tax exempt status to organizations with which the Administration disagreed politically.
Shortly after this scandal was uncovered, then-IRS Director of Exempt Organizations, Lois Lerner, was called by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to explain the actions of the agency. After making an aggressive statement proclaiming her innocence, she then pled the fifth, and was subsequently removed from her post. To supposedly fix the problem, John Koskinen was appointed as the Commissioner of the IRS.
To the great disappointment of the American people and myself, the problem only got worse. During Mr. Koskinen’s tenure, 442 backup tapes containing 24,000 emails from Lois Lerner were destroyed. His actions upon assuming the position of Commissioner were a clear indication that he was less interested in cleaning up the agency than he was in covering up some of its questionable actions.
Last year, Congress froze the IRS’ budget and prohibited the use of funds to target organizations because of its past actions. It also prohibited the White House from directing the IRS on how to classify a tax-exempt organization. However, the continued obstinacy of the IRS and Commissioner Koskinen has led many in Congress to conclude further sanctions must be considered.
While Congress has not formally impeached a member of the executive branch in over 140 years, I do believe there is enough evidence to consider doing so in this case. In my opinion, covering up the actions of Lois Lerner rises to the level of an impeachable offense. Students of history will recall that President Richard Nixon resigned the Presidency in order to avoid impeachment charges – charges brought against him not because of the Watergate burglary, but because of his role in covering it up. Nixon faced impeachment for covering up a two-bit burglary of a political headquarters. Someone at the IRS likely covered up crimes committed against tens of thousands of Americans. If the House Judiciary Committee concludes that Mr. Koskinen had some role in this cover up, impeachment would certainly be an appropriate action for the House to consider.
