President Barack Obama is dead wrong to defend the Internal Revenue Service investigations of tax-exempt status of tea party groups, says Rep. Peter Roskam, R-IL
The Deputy House Minority Whip told John Bachman and J.D. Hayworth on Newsmax TV's "America's Forum" that the House Ways and Means Committee's investigation into the matter concluded that the president is incorrect and that former IRS official Lois Lerner engaged in criminal behavior.
"We've come to the conclusions that she committed crimes, in our view, or certainly this is worth reviewing on three things," Roskam said. "Number one, that she denied the Constitutional rights of organizations and individuals who are seeking to get a certain tax status to which they were entitled. Number two, that she obstructed the investigation or misled the [investigation related] to that. Number three, that she divulged confidential information that was in her possession as a trustee of that information who had no authority to divulge that information. Those are felonies."
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The Committee voted Wednesday to send a letter urging criminal prosecution of Lerner to Attorney General Eric Holder. Roskam said that even if the Justice Department doesn't pursue charges against Lerner, as many observers expect, it was important for the Committee to send a message that it is not being complacent in its duties.
Following the Ways and Means Committee's Wednesday letter to Holder, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted Thursday to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress.
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