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{{Infobox person
| name = Lois Lerner
| image =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|mf=yes|1950|10|12}}
| birth_name = Lois Gail Lerner
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| death_date =
| death_place =
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▲| alma_mater = [[Northeastern University]]<small> ([[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]])</small><br />[[Western New England University School of Law]]<small> ([[Juris Doctor|J.D.]])</small>
}}
'''Lois 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
▲'''Lois 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>
==Early life and education==
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In May 2014, Lerner was declared in [[contempt of Congress]] in connection with her invocation of her [[Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fifth Amendment]] not to testify on the matter before a congressional committee.<ref name=UrbanMay10>{{cite news|last=Urban|first=Peter|title=Washington Digest: House GOP takes on Obama administration|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nevada/washington-digest-house-gop-takes-obama-administration|access-date=12 May 2014|newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal|date=May 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://oversight.house.gov/report/staff-report-lois-lerners-involvement-irs-targeting-tax-exempt-organizations/|title=Lois Lerner's Involvement in the IRS Targeting of Tax-Exempt Organizations|agency=House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform|access-date=June 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225142600/http://oversight.house.gov/report/staff-report-lois-lerners-involvement-irs-targeting-tax-exempt-organizations/|archive-date=December 25, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Pergram|first=Chad|url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/05/07/house-votes-to-hold-lerner-in-contempt-congress/|title=House votes to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress|work=Fox News|date=May 7, 2014}}</ref> The contempt resolution, [[Finding Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress|H.Res. 574]], was introduced in the [[United States House of Representatives]] on May 7, 2014 by Representative [[Darrell Issa]], Republican of California.<ref name=hres574allactions>{{cite web|title=H.Res. 574 – All Actions|date=7 May 2014|url=http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-resolution/574/all-actions/|agency=Congress.gov|access-date=May 8, 2014}}</ref>
On May 7, 2014, the resolution passed on a 231–187 vote, with all [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and six [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] voting in favor, and every other Democrat opposed.<ref name="hres574allactions"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2014/roll203.xml|title=Final Vote Results for Roll Call 203|website=House.gov|date=May 7, 2014}}</ref><ref name=SixDemsHill>{{cite news|last=Marcos|first=Cristina|title=Six Dems vote for Lerner contempt resolution|url=
In a seven-page letter to Speaker Boehner dated March 31, 2015, [[United States Attorney for the District of Columbia]] [[Ronald Machen]] said that the Justice Department would not pursue criminal contempt charges against Lerner.<ref name="Calamur">{{cite news|last=Calamur|first=Krishnadev|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/04/01/396872364/justice-department-wont-charge-irs-lois-lerner-with-criminal-contempt|title=Justice Department Won't Charge IRS' Lois Lerner With Criminal Contempt|work=NPR|date=April 1, 2015}}</ref> Machen disagreed with Issa's assertion that Lerner had waived her constitutional right against [[self-incrimination]] by making an opening statement at a May 2013 hearing in which she made a brief opening remark proclaiming her innocence, before invoking her Fifth Amendment privilege.<ref name="Calamur"/> In a statement, the U.S. Attorney's Office wrote: "Ms. Lerner did not waive her Fifth Amendment privilege by making general claims of innocence. The Constitution would provide Ms. Lerner with an [[absolute defense]] if she were prosecuted for contempt."<ref name="Calamur"/>
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===Hard drive crash and back-up tape erasure of Lerner's emails===
Testifying in June 2015, the IRS Deputy Inspector General Timothy P. Camus said that 424 back-up tapes, most likely to have contained the missing emails, were erased in March
Testifying in June 2015, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Russell George and his deputy, Timothy Camus, told the Oversight Committee an investigation by them had been able to recover more than 1,000 emails that the IRS did not turn over to Congress. Their investigation could not determine why Lerner's computer crashed, but that, "Prior to our investigation, and our efforts to recover Ms. Lerner's missing e-mails, the IRS did not search for, review or examine the two separate sources of backup tapes, the server hard drives, or the loaner laptops that ultimately produced new, previously undisclosed e-mails."<ref name=Frates1>{{cite news|last=Frates|first=Chris|title=IRS watchdog: Up to 24,000 missing Lois Lerner emails|work=[[CNN]]|date=June 25, 2015|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/24/politics/lois-lerner-irs-missing-emails-watchdog/|access-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref>
In a statement released June 25, 2015, the IRS said it has "fully cooperated with the investigation
===Email account under the name "Toby Miles"===
On August 23, 2015, the IRS told a federal court that Lerner had a second personal email account that she used to conduct IRS business. The account was set up under the name "Toby Miles
===FBI finds no evidence to support criminal prosecution===
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In a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman [[Bob Goodlatte]], Republican of Virginia, announcing the case closure, Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Peter J. Kadzik wrote that while "our investigation uncovered substantial evidence of mismanagement, poor judgment, and institutional inertia...Not a single IRS employee reported any allegation, concern or suspicion that the handling of tax-exempt applications—or any other IRS function—was motivated by political bias, discriminatory intent, or corruption."<ref name="Phelps"/> Kadzik wrote "We found no evidence that any IRS official acted based on political, discriminatory, corrupt, or other inappropriate motives that would support a criminal prosecution."<ref>{{cite news|last=Gore|first=Leada|url=http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/10/lois_lerner_internal_revenue_s.html|title=Lois Lerner, Internal Revenue Service cleared by Justice Department, no charges will be filed|work=[[AL.com]]|date=October 23, 2015}}</ref> Kadzik stated that the investigation specifically absolved Lerner of criminal liability, and determined that Lerner was in fact the first official to recognize a problem and try and correct it.<ref name="Phelps"/><ref>Letter dated October 23, 2015, from Peter J. Kadzik, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of Justice, to The Honorable Bob Goodlatte, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives, and The Honorable John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives.</ref>
Reactions to the investigation's conclusions were split along [[Partisan (political)|partisan]] lines. Representative [[Darrell Issa]], Republican of California, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said that decision not to prosecute ignored "volumes of evidence in the public record and efforts to obstruct legitimate inquires", and that "giving Lois Lerner a free pass only reinforces the idea that government officials are above the law and that there is no consequence for wrongdoing
==Personal life==
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[[Category:Northeastern University alumni]]
[[Category:Western New England University alumni]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Maryland Democrats]]
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