House Republicans on Tuesday began the impeachment process against IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, arguing he made "false statements" under oath, failed to comply with a subpoena for evidence and violated the public trust.
Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, joined by 18 other committee members, introduced rare legislation to begin the impeachment proceedings, following through on a threat first issued over the summer when Koskinen was accused of making inaccurate statements to Congress regarding the IRS' unfair targeting of conservative groups, reported the Hill.
"Commissioner Koskinen violated the public trust. He failed to comply with a congressionally issued subpoena, documents were destroyed on his watch, and the public was consistently misled," said Chaffetz in a statement. "Impeachment is the appropriate tool to restore public confidence in the IRS and to protect the institutional interests of Congress."
Chaffetz and his fellow Republicans allege that Koskinen failed to preserve IRS records in accordance with a congressional subpoena, allowing the IRS to destroy 422 backup tapes that contained emails from former IRS senior executive Lois Lerner, who led the targeting operation. They also charge that Koskinen made "false and misleading statements" to Congress when he said he had turned over the entirety of Lerner's emails, including claiming "nothing" had been "lost" or "destroyed." And third, the lawmakers said Koskinen failed to notify Congress about the missing emails until June 2014, despite allegedly knowing of the issue as early as February.
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the accusations against Koskinen were baseless.
"This ridiculous resolution will demonstrate nothing but the Republican obsession with diving into investigative rabbit holes that waste tens of millions of taxpayer dollars while having absolutely no positive impact on a single American," said the Maryland Democrat, according to CNN. "Calling this resolution a 'stunt' or a 'joke' would be insulting to stunts and jokes."
The impeachment tool is a step further than the contempt charges House Republicans sought to bring upon Lerner and former Attorney General Eric Holder over past issues, noted Fox News.
With Congress already involved in other fights, and with only a little more than a year left in President Barack Obama's tenure, it's unclear how far the impeachment resolution will make it, according to the Washington Times.
The announcement was made the same day Koskinen testified before the Senate Finance Committee, and just days after the Justice Department decided last week to close its investigation into the IRS targeting scandal without bringing criminal charges against anyone involved.
