Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) said that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is “definitely” looking at the possibility of impeaching IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in an interview with theWashington Free Beacon on Thursday.
“We are definitely looking at that,” Jordan said. “Definitely looking at that. I’ll say this, Mr. Koskinen has on more than one occasion come in front of the committee and conveyed information to the committee that later turned out not to be accurate.”
On June 25, 2015, the committee held a hearing on the 2013 IRS scandal and found that despite a subpoena and a preservation order, the IRS, under Koskinen’s control, had destroyed or degaussed422 tapes that might have contained emails from Lois Lerner, the former official at the center of the controversy. Around this time, a National Review article revealed that Republican leaders were considering possibilities to impeach Koskinen.
Jordan said that impeachment is a possibility for the IRS commissioner.
“When you have an individual who’s head of an agency with this kind of power the Internal Revenue Service has, who has stated things under oath that turned out later to be false, that’s a problem,” he said. “Couple that with the false information that was sent out to a lot of Obamacare enrollees that impacted their tax liability that was just false, and some of the data breaches that have taken place there too—so the main focus is, of course, the targeting scandal and his answers to questions in front of the committee under oath that I’ve said later turned out to be untrue.”
“But there’s also these other things, so that’s something that the committee is looking at but there’s a certain amount of homework you’ve got to do before you start down that path,” he said. “So we’re looking at it.”
Last year, Jordan introduced H. Res. 565 on May 2, 2014 that called on then-Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special counsel to investigate the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS.
Jordan confirmed that he will continue to push Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the same issue.
“Yes, it’s something we’re looking at again,” said Jordan. He mentioned that Lynch would be in front of the Judiciary committee sometime in September and that he plans to ask her about that issue then.
Jordan also expressed skepticism about the Justice Department’s handling of the IRS controversy.
“Everyone knows the fix is in at the Justice Department,” said Jordan. “The FBI announced a year and a half ago, according to the Wall Street Journal, that no one was going to be prosecuted. The President made his famous statement on Super Bowl Sunday a year and a half ago that there’s no corruption, not even a smidgen, and the lead attorney on the case is Barbara Bosserman who’s a maxed-out contributor to the President’s campaign.”
“So everyone knows the fix is in, and what really tells you that the fix is in with the Justice Department investigation is Lois Lerner was willing to sit down with Justice Department attorneys, Ms. Bosserman and her team, and answer their questions but she’s not willing to answer members of Congress’ questions,” said Jordan.
“Now remember I can’t put her in jail, the Justice Department can put her in jail,” said Jordan. “We’re just doing a congressional investigation; we’re just trying to get the facts for the American people. So she’s willing to talk to the people who could put her in jail but not willing to talk to people who can’t?”
“And the reason she won’t talk to people who can’t put her in jail is because she knows she’s not going to jail because the President’s already announced there’s no corruption and the FBI’s already leaked to the Wall Street Journal no one’s going to be prosecuted,” Jordan continued. “The fix is in, so of course we need a special counsel.”
