Former IRS official Lois Lerner was trying to use her position to essentially overturn a Supreme Court decision she didn't like by targeting conservative political groups, says Rep. Darrell Issa.
"She was an active participant in trying to undo what she saw — and the president saw — as the damage of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision," Issa said Monday on Fox News Channel's
"On the Record with Greta Van Susteren."
"The president doesn't like what the Supreme Court says. She doesn't like it, and they think they're going to overturn it."
In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that the Constitution forbids restrictions of political expenditures by corporations, associations or labor unions.
Lerner is a former FEC official who moved to the IRS in 2001. She has pleaded the Fifth before a Congressional committee headed by Issa, and emails she sent or received during the time of the targeting are missing because of a computer hard drive crash.
It was announced this week that the hard drive of
FEC lawyer April Sands, a friend of Lerner's, also crashed. Sands resigned from her job after admitting to violating the Hatch Act by using government time or resources to engage in political activities. Sands sent several political tweets during work hours.
Issa, a California Republican, is chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He says he believes Lerner broke the law when she planted a question about the IRS investigation in May 2013.
Lerner was using a clever tactic to pre-release an Inspector General's report, which is illegal, he said.
"We expect there are other violations," he said, but Congress may be unable to prove them. That's why he is calling for a special prosecutor.
He also believes more people are involved, though he admits that might not be provable either.
"If it's only Lois Lerner, Lois Lerner should go to jail," he said.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.