Finance Committee IRS Investigation Update

Press Release

Today, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) released an update on their bipartisan investigation into inappropriate treatment by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of organizations applying for tax-exempt status. The Senators have learned that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has been able to recover some forensic data which may include documents the IRS believed were missing. This data may include emails to and/or from Lois Lerner which could be material to the investigation. TIGTA plans to assess whether this data can be converted into a readable format and then produce these materials to the Committee as soon as they have fully recovered and validated them.

"From the onset of our bipartisan investigation, we've remained committed to getting to the truth and ensuring that the IRS treats all tax-exempt applicants fairly," Wyden and Hatch said today. "Since the launch of our investigation in May 2013, our investigators have interviewed more than 30 current and former IRS and Treasury employees and have reviewed nearly one million pages of documents. Though we are in the final states of finishing our bipartisan report, TIGTA has yet to release its findings regarding the lost Lois Lerner e-mails at the IRS.

"Given our commitment to ensuring a complete and thorough investigation into this issue, we will review TIGTA's findings concerning the missing data before we release a report," the Senators continued. "We will continue with our bipartisan efforts and expect to issue a complete report early next year."

Source