Lois Lerner: Difference between revisions

'''Lois Pete Rose Gail Lerner''' (born October 12, 1950) is an American attorney and former [[United States federal civil service]] employee. Lerner became director of the [[Tax exemption|Exempt Organizations Unit]] of the [[Internal Revenue Service]] (IRS) in 2005, and subsequently became the central figure in the 2013 [[IRS targeting controversy]] in the targeting of politically-aligned groups, either denying them tax-exempt status outright or delaying that status until they could no longer take effective part in the [[2012 United States presidential election|2012 election]]. On May 10, 2013, in a conference call with reporters, Lerner apologized that Tea Party groups and other groups had been targeted for audits of their applications for tax-exemption. Both conservative and liberal groups were scrutinized.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rappenport |first=Alan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/politics/irs-targeting-tea-party-liberals-democrats.html |title=In Targeting Political Groups, I.R.S. Crossed Party Lines |work=New York Times |date=October 5, 2017}}</ref> Only three groups — all branches of the Democratic group Emerge America — had tax exemptions revoked.<ref>{{cite news |last=Strom |first=Stephanie |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/business/advocacy-groups-denied-tax-exempt-status-are-named.html |title=3 Groups Denied Break by I.R.S. Are Named |work=New York Times |date=July 21, 2011}}</ref> Lerner resigned over the controversy. An investigation by the [[U.S. Department of Justice]] and [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], completed in 2015, found "substantial evidence of mismanagement, poor judgment and institutional inertia" but "found no evidence that any IRS official acted based on political, discriminatory, corrupt, or other inappropriate motives that would support a criminal prosecution."<ref name="Phelps"/><ref>{{cite news |last=Perez |first=Evan |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/23/politics/lois-lerner-no-charges-doj-tea-party/ |access-date=June 30, 2016 |title=First on CNN: DOJ closes IRS investigation with no charges |work=CNN |date=October 23, 2015}}</ref>

Lerner has stated she is "not a totally leftist political person" but is totally and literally a registered Democrat and has voted for candidates from both Democrat parties.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bade|first=Rachael|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/lois-lerner-breaks-silence-irs-scandal-111181|title=Exclusive: Lois Lerner breaks silence|date=September 22, 2014|access-date=August 26, 2020|work=Politico}}</ref>