USA Today - Rep. Fleming: Impeach the IRS commissioner

Op-Ed

By Rep. John Fleming

If this election cycle has taught us anything, it's that the American people are sick and tired of what they see as a double standard: one set of rules for the powerful and politically connected, and another for ordinary Americans
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For years, the IRS abused its power to target groups based on their political views--a fundamental violation of American citizens' First Amendment rights. To this date, no one has been held accountable.

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen was brought on to head the powerful agency in the wake of the Tea Party targeting scandal. President Obama said he was appointed to "restore the public trust." In reality, he continued the pattern of stonewalling and obstruction.

With two congressional subpoenas and three preservation orders in place--under IRS Commissioner John Koskinen's watch--422 back-up tapes containing as many as 24,000 emails related to the investigation were erased by IRS employees in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Further, in February 2014 the Commissioner's counsel Kate Duval identified that there was a gap in Lois Lerner's emails that she later found was a result of a hard drive "crash." Mr. Koskinen was made aware of these missing emails that were pertinent to the investigation, yet rather than inform Congress, Koskinen withheld the information from Congress for several months.

Making matters worse, a Government Accountability (GAO) report confirmed in January of 2016, two years after John Koskinen assumed the role of Commissioner, that no protocols had been put in place to ensure the IRS no longer targets Americans. In fact, just last month a federal court ruling confirmed that the IRS is still engaging in unlawful political targeting.

The primary--perhaps the only--argument against the forcible firing of the IRS Commissioner is that it hasn't been done before. To date, no agency head has been impeached by Congress. Despite the lack of precedent, it is clear Congress should be doing more to hold agencies accountable, not less.

In Federalist No. 65, Alexander Hamilton wrote that the power to impeach a civil servant exists to protect the public against "the abuse or violation of some public trust." It is clear that at every turn, Koskinen chose to breach the public's trust.

Like Eric Holder, Lois Lerner, and Hillary Clinton before him, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen has thus far faced zero consequences for obstructing justice, lying to Congress while under oath, allowing evidence under subpoena to be destroyed, and failing to comply with multiple subpoenas and preservation orders.

What's it going to take to get some accountability? It's time for Congress to do our part to hold the IRS Commissioner to account.

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