Issa: IRS Obstructing Release of 6,400 Recovered Lois Lerner E-Mails

Statement

"The excuses peddled by the IRS to deny access to Lois Lerner's e-mails stretch the bounds of credibility. The agency now says it can't release 6,400 of Lerner's e-mails because it is ensuring the e-mails are not duplicates, despite the fact that the Inspector General has already confirmed the e-mails are not duplicates. The IRS is touting this unnecessary de-duplication process as an excuse for why its timeline for releasing Lerner's communications may "need' to be further delayed.

"This is, of course, just the latest obstruction in a long line of obstructions. First the hard drive failed, then it was destroyed, then there were no backup tapes -- lies and obfuscations exposed by IG investigators who recovered thousands of emails the Congress, Courts and the American people were told the IRS had done everything possible to recover and were gone for good.

"The Deputy Inspector General has already publicly confirmed what most already suspect -- that "there is potential criminal activity.' I look forward to the full truth being brought to light when the Treasury Inspector General's office releases the final results of its investigation. The prosecution of bad actors at the IRS and elsewhere, to the fullest extent of the law, is the only way to restore confidence in an agency whose standing has been badly damaged by its own actions."

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