Lois Lerner: Difference between revisions

| image = [[File:Lois in 2014 cropped retouched.jpg|220px]]

Lerner graduated from [[Northeastern University]].<ref name="DicksonBio">Caitlin Dickson, [http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/14/irs-scandal-s-central-figure-lois-lerner-described-as-apolitical.html IRS Scandal's Central Figure, Lois Lerner, Described as 'Apolitical'], ''Daily Beast'' (May 14, 2013).</ref> She earned her [[Juris Doctor|J.D.]] from the [[Western New England University School of Law|Western New England College of Law]].<ref name="DicksonBio"/><ref name="FEC">{{cite web|url=http://www.fec.gov/press/120100agc.htm|title=Lois G. Lerner Designated Acting General Counsel|publisher=Federal Election Commission|date=2000-12-01|access-date=2014-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140818093500/http://www.fec.gov/press/120100agc.htm|archive-date=2014-08-18|url-status=dead|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Lerner joined the Internal Revenue Service in 2001, as Director of Rulings and Agreements in the [[Tax exemption|Exempt Organizations]] function of TEGE.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Fahrenthold|first1=David A.|title=IRS official Lois Lerner becomes face of scandal over targeting of conservative groups|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/irs-official-lois-lerner-becomes-face-of-scandal-over-targeting-of-conservative-groups/2013/05/13/065e1d82-bc01-11e2-a31d-a41b2414d001_story.html|accessdateaccess-date=21 June 21, 2014|worknewspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 13, 2013}}</ref>

In January 2006, she was appointed Director Exempt Organizations. In that capacity, Lerner led an organization of 900 IRS tax law enforcement officials responsible for a broad range of compliance activities, including examining the operational and financial activities of exempt organizations, processing applications for [[tax exemption]], providing direction through private letter rulings and technical guidance, and providing customer education and outreach to the exempt community.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irs.gov/uac/Lois-G.-Lerner-Selected-as-Director-of-IRS-Exempt-Organizations-Division|title=Lois G. Lerner Selected as Director of IRS Exempt Organizations Division|date=2005-12-December 22, 2005|publisheragency=IRCIRS}}</ref>

== 2013 IRS controversy ==

On May 10, 2013, in advance of a public release of the audit findings, Lerner answered a planted question at a meeting of the [[American Bar Association]] (ABA) by stating that the IRS was "apologetic" for what she termed "absolutely inappropriate" actions.<ref>{{cite news|last=Philip|first=Abby D.|url=httphttps://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/05/irs-planted-question-about-tax-exempt-groups/|title=IRS Planted Question About Tax Exempt Groups|work=ABC News|date=May 17, 2013}}</ref> Lerner said that the extra scrutiny had not been centrally planned and had been done by low-level "front-line people" in the Cincinnati office.<ref name="James">Frank{{cite news|last=James, [|first=Frank|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2013/05/22/186102554/lois-lerners-brief-and-awful-day-on-capitol-hill |title=Lois Lerner's Brief and Awful Day on Capitol Hill], |work=NPR (|date=May 22, 2013).}}</ref> The ''The Washington Post'' subsequently reported that documents showed that "IRS officials at the agency's Washington headquarters sent queries to conservative groups asking about their donors and other aspects of their operations, while officials in the [[El Monte, California|El Monte]] and [[Laguna Niguel, California|Laguna Niguel]] offices in California sent similar questionnaires to tea-party-affiliated groups."<ref name="washingtonpost1">{{cite news |last1=Eilperin |first1=Julie |last2=Goldfarb |first2=Zachary A. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-denounces-reported-irs-targeting-of-conservative-groups/2013/05/13/a0185644-bbdf-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_print.html |title=IRS officials in Washington were involved in targeting of conservative groups |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 13, |accessdate=2013 |access-05-date=May 15, 2013}}</ref> Lerner's superior, then-acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, later testified to Congress that he had discussed with Lerner how she was to make the revelation and apology using a planted question at the ABA meeting, rather than at her appearance two days earlier before the [[House Ways and Means Committee]].<ref name=wapolive051713>{{cite news|last=O'Keefe|first=Ed|title=Hearing on IRS scandal: live updates|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/05/17/hearing-on-irs-scandal-live-updates/?hpid=z1|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=May 17, 2013}}</ref>

On May 10, 2013, in a conference call with reporters, Lerner apologized that [[Tea Party movement|Tea Party]] groups and other groups had been targeted for audits of their applications for tax-exemption.<ref name=WP0513>Zachary{{cite A.news |last1=Goldfarb and|first1=Zachary KarenA. |last2=Tumulty. [|first2=Karen |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/irs-admits-targeting-conservatives-for-tax-scrutiny-in-2012-election/2013/05/10/3b6a0ada-b987-11e2-92f3-f291801936b8_story.html "|title=IRS admits targeting conservatives for tax scrutiny in 2012 election"], ''|newspaper=The Washington Post'', |date=May 10, 2013. Retrieved|access-date=October 26, 2015-10-26}}</ref><ref name=LATimes0513>Wes{{cite news |last=Venteicher -|first=Wes [|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/10/news/la-pn-irs-improperly-targeting-conservatives-20130510 "|title=IRS admits to improperly targeting conservative groups"], ''|work=Los Angeles Times'', |date=May 10, 2013. Retrieved 2015-10|access-date=October 26, 2015}}</ref><ref name=HuffPost0513>[{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/11/irs-not-good-at-math-lois-lerner_n_3259753.html "|title=Lois Lerner, Senior IRS Official, Admits Not Being 'Good At Math', " (audio)], ''|work=The Huffington Post'', |date=May 11, 2013. Retrieved|access-date=October 26, 2015-10-26}}</ref> Lerner told those on the conference call that, in an attempt to manage the large number of tax-exemption applications between 2010 and 2012, the agency had identified some applicants using "shortcuts" such as targeting those applications containing terms like "Tea Party" or "patriots" in their titles. Lerner said, however, that such actions were not driven by any political agenda, but added, "We made some mistakes. Some people didn't use good judgment.... For that we're apologetic." Lerner also said that only about 25 percent of the flagged applications were Tea Party related, but admitted that any singling out of the groups was "absolutely inappropriate and not the way we should do things."<ref name=WP0513/><ref name=LATimes0513/><ref name=HuffPost0513/>

On May 23, 2013, the IRS placed Lerner on [[administrative leave|paid administrative leave]]. As her interim replacement, Acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel named Ken Corbin, previously Deputy Director of the Submission Processing, Wage, and Investment Division, as acting director of the Exempt Organizations Division. Later, while still on administrative leave, Lerner formally resigned, and retired from the IRS, effective September 23, 2013.<ref name=wsjlerner092313>{{cite news |last=McKinnon |first=John D. |title=Lois Lerner, at Center of IRS Investigation, Resigns |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304713704579093461064758006| newspaper|work=The Wall Street Journal |accessdatedate=September 23, 2013 |access-date=September 23, 2013}}</ref>

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|accessdateaccess-date=12 May 2014|newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal|date=10 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|publisher=|access-date=June 17, 2014-06-17|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=2018-12-December 25, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite webnews|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/|publisheragency=United States Congress.gov|accessdateaccess-date=8 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 H.Res.Vote 574Results 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=httphttps://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/205547-six-dems-vote-for-lerner-contempt-resolution/|accessdateaccess-date=8 May 2014|newspaper=The Hill|date=7 May 2014|language=en-US}}</ref> Representative [[Steve Stockman]] introduced a measure (never taken up by the House) that, had it been adopted, would have directed [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker]] [[John Boehner]] to instruct the [[Sergeant at Arms of the United States House of Representatives|House sergeant at arms]] to arrest Lerner for contempt of Congress.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bade|first=Rachael|authorlink=Rachael Bade|url=http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/steve-stockman-lois-lerner-irs-108783.html|title=Steve Stockman pushes House GOP to arrest Lois Lerner|author=Rachael Bade|work=Politico|date=July 10, 2014}}</ref>

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">Krishnadev{{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"/>

In 2014, the House Oversight Committee under Issa issued [[subpoena]]s for all of Lerner's [[email]] messages.<ref name="BenderyEmail">Kennifer{{cite news|last=Bendery, [|first=Kennifer|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/25/darrell-issa-lois-lerner-emails_n_5530125.html |title=Darrell Issa Demands Emails From Lois Lerner From Before Email Really Existed],|work=The ''Huffington Post'' (|date=June 25, 2014).}}</ref> One subpoena directed FEC chairman [[Lee E. Goodman]] to turn over all emails sent to or from Lerner, or copied to Lerner, from the past 28 years, stretching back to January 1, 1986, a time before commercialized email existed.<ref name="BenderyEmail"/><ref>Elias{{cite news|last=Isquith,|first=Elias [|url=http://www.salon.com/2014/06/26/darrell_issa_wants_to_see_every_lois_lerner_e_mail_since_1986/ |title=Darrell Issa wants to see every Lois Lerner email since 1986], ''|work=Salon'' (|date=June 26, 2014).}}</ref>

The House Oversight Committee also subpoenaed the IRS for all e-mails to and from Lerner and various other employees, such as Lerner subordinate Holly Paz, General Counsel William Wilkins and chief of staff Jonathan Davis.<ref name="KorteEmail">Gregory{{cite news|last=Korte, [|first=Gregory|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/26/irs-turning-over-lerner-e-mails-could-take-years/6909201/ |title=Turning over Lerner e-mails could take years, IRS says], ''|work=USA Today'' (|date=March 26, 2014).}}</ref> At a hearing in March 2014, [[Commissioner of Internal Revenue|IRS commissioner]] [[John Koskinen]] said that the IRS had by that time provided 690,000 pages of documents to the [[House Ways and Means Committee]] and the [[Senate Finance Committee]] and 420,000 of redacted documents to the House and Senate oversight committees.<ref name="KorteEmail"/> Koskinen said that the IRS had spent 10 months and $15 million complying with various investigations to date, and that it could take months or years to comply with broader subpoenas.<ref name="KorteEmail"/>

In 2014, in further pursuit of the House of Representatives Congressional inquiry, the House Oversight Committee, chaired by [[Jason Chaffetz|Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah)]], issued a subpoena for all of Lerner's email messages during the time in question. Months later, the IRS informed Congress that they did not have all of her email messages, due to her hard drive crashing, causing them to be irretrievably lost, that the IRS had taken steps to recover the email messages, but that it was impossible. The IRS Inspector General's office said, however, that they found back-up computer tapes, and would attempt to reconstitute the emails from the back-up tapes. Committee Investigators, however, said that when they later went to obtain the backup tapes from the IRS, the IRS employees in the back-up tape unit said that no one from IRS headquarters had ever asked for them.<ref name=Dinan1>Dinan,{{cite news|last=Dinan|first=Stephen. "|title=IRS erased Lois Lerner's emails even after subpoena, audit says; Up to 24,000 emails completely lost", ''The Washington Times'', June 25, 2015 [|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/25/irs-erased-emails-even-after-subpoena-audit/?page|work=all]The RetrievedWashington Times|date=June 25, 2015|access-06-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref>

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 2014—a2014&mdash;a month after the IRS said it realized it was missing some of Lerner's emails because of a hard-drive crash, and although the emails were then under subpoena from the Oversight Committee. He stated, however, that their investigation "did not uncover evidence that the erasure was done ... to destroy evidence or conceal information from Congress,", and noted that there was a "remote possibility" that additional emails might still be found. He said that officials were examining the possibility, however, of criminal activity.<ref name=Dinan1/><ref name=Frates1/>

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 Retrieved29, 2015-06-29}}</ref>

In a statement released June 25, 2015, the IRS said it has "fully cooperated with the investigation,", but acknowledged the backup tapes should not have been erased. "The IRS recognizes there was a clear breakdown of communication in one part of the organization regarding the need to preserve and retain the back-up tapes and information," the statement said, noting that an internal review found the erasure wasn't intentional.<ref name=Frates1/>

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.". The disclosure occurred in a lawsuit by the [[Judicial Watch]], which is suing to obtain the release of Lerner's emails. According to [[Eliana Johnson]] of [[National Review]], a former colleague said that Toby Miles was the name of Lerner's dog.<ref name="FoxTobyMiles">{{cite web | url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/08/25/irs-reveals-existence-another-lois-lerner-email-account/ | title=IRS reveals existence of another Lois Lerner email account | accessdatewebsite=25[[Fox News]] | access-date=August 25, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/423035/Lois-Lerner-email-alias-what-does-it-mean | title=Who's Toby Miles? | accessdatework=26National Review | access-date=August 26, 2015 | author=Johnson, Eliana| date=25 August 2015 }}</ref>

The U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI began an investigation into the IRS controversy in May 2013.<ref name="HessCleared">Hannah{{cite news|last=Hess, [|first=Hannah|url=http://blogs.rollcall.com/hill-blotter/doj-clears-lois-lerner-closes-irs-investigation/?dcz|title= DOJ Clears Lois Lerner, Closes IRS Investigation], ''|website=Roll Call'' (|date=October 23, 2015).}}</ref> In October 2015, the DOJ announced it was closing the investigation and would not seek criminal charges.<ref name="Phelps">{{cite news|last=Phelps|first=Timothy M. Phelps, [|url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-irs-conservatives-20151023-story.html |title=Justice Dept. won't file criminal charges over allegations of IRS targeting conservative groups], ''|work=Los Angeles Times'' (|date=October 23, 2015).}}</ref> The determination came after an investigation of almost two years, in which the DOJ and FBI interviewed more than 100 witnesses and reviewed more than a million pages of IRS documents.<ref name="Phelps"/>

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&mdash;or any other IRS function&mdash;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>Leada{{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.".<ref name="HessCleared"/> Representative [[Elijah E. Cummings]], Democrat of Maryland, the [[ranking member]] of the Oversight Committee, said that "Over the past five years, Republicans in the House of Representatives have squandered literally tens of millions of dollars going down all kinds of investigative rabbit holes—IRS, Planned Parenthood, Benghazi—with absolutely no evidence of illegal activity. ..I believe the American people have higher expectations for their elected officials, and they want Congress to start doing its job and focusing on issues that matter instead of these ridiculous, partisan, taxpayer-funded attacks."<ref name="HessCleared"/> House Judiciary Committee Chairman Goodlatte, the recipient of the DOJ letter, said that DOJ's decision was "...disturbing. The American people should be concerned that this kind of politicization continues to go unchecked by this administration and a Justice Department charged with pursuing wrongdoing",<ref name="Phelps"/> and 19 members of the [[House Oversight and Government Reform Committee]] led by the Committeecommittee's Chairman, [[Jason Chaffetz]] (R-Utah), filed a resolution to [[Federal impeachment# in the United States|impeach]] [[IRS Commissioner]] [[John Koskinen]].<ref name=WPost102815>Lisa{{cite news|last=Rein. [|first=Lisa|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/10/27/house-republicans-in-last-ditch-effort-move-to-impeach-irs-commissioner-over-targeting-scandal/ "|title=House Republicans, in last-ditch effort, move to impeach IRS commissioner over targeting scandal"],|newspaper=The ''Washington Post'', |date=October 28, 2015.|access-date=October Retrieved28, 2015-10-28}}</ref><ref name=CNN102815>Theodore{{cite news|last1=Schleifer and |first1=Theodore|last2=LoBianco|first2=Tom LoBianco. [|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/27/politics/john-koskinen-irs-impeach/ "|title=House Republicans move to impeach IRS head"], ''|work=CNN Politics'', |date=October 27, 2015.|access-date=October Retrieved28, 2015-10-28}}</ref>. Most real Americans understand that both Lerner and Koskinen are liars and thought they were above the law, and should now be in prison.

Lerner is a past president of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL).<ref name="WilliamsonProfile">Elizabeth{{cite news|last=Williamson, [|first=Elizabeth|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324031404578483513309383922 |title=Agency Official Behind Firestorm], ''|work=Wall Street Journal'' (|date=May 14, 2013).}}</ref>

[[Category:PeopleLawyers from Bethesda, Maryland]]