IRS Lerner Sought Audit of Republican Senator

The hits just keep on coming. If Lois Lerner’s criminal prospects weren’t looking terrible already, newly discovered emails (no, not all the ones the IRS lost) have shown that she actively sought to have a sitting Republican senator audited – just because.

According to Yahoo news, Lerner accidentally received an email meant for  Sen. Charles Grassley:

The emails show former IRS official Lois Lerner mistakenly received an invitation to an event that was meant to go to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.

The event organizer apparently offered to pay for Grassley’s wife to attend the event. In an email to another IRS official, Lerner suggests referring the matter for an audit, saying it might be inappropriate for the group to pay for his wife.

Whether or not it was inappropriate for the group to make the offer, Lerner apparently misunderstood IRS rules (or thought her communication would also get conveniently lost later on). Nothing had been done wrong by Sen. Grassley unless he accepted the gift – something even IRS subordinates knew. Another IRS official, Matthew Giuliano, pushed back on Lerner, telling her that an audit was unwarranted because not even Sen. Grassley had accepted an invitation – much less his wife.

Senator Grassley’s office stated that neither the Senator, nor his wife attended the event nor did they receive an invitation.

In an official statement, the IRS says that this kind of request could not result in an audit as “audits cannot be initiated solely by personal requests or suggestions by any one individual inside the IRS.” With the recent incredulous statements by lead IRS officials, adherence to policy and real integrity are not above question, but the quotation of policy is duly noted.

Americans are increasingly finding the IRS oppressive, rogue and acting as the strong arm of the Obama administration. Many don’t trust the organization to enforce revenue policy without bias.

It is up to the IRS to prove that they are simply applying written tax law without prejudice. If they cannot, Congress may have to act to reform the organization.