Evidently IRS Commissioner John Koskinen is to be the sacrificial lamb Republicans take hostage to atone for the sin of being completely wrong about the so-called "targeting scandal."
Jason Chaffetz just announced -- to great sound and fury -- that his committee filed four articles of impeachment against an IRS commissioner who was not commissioner at the time the so-called "scandal" occurred.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, announced at a Monday press conference that his committee has asked the President to remove Koskinen from office. He accused the IRS commissioner of misleading Congress and failing to cooperate with the congressional investigation into the IRS's alleged targeting of conservative groups under the tenure of Koskinen's predecessor, Steven Miller.
"Mr. Koskinen failed to testify truthfully. The statements that he made to Congress were false," Chaffetz said Monday. "It is imperative that this committee pursue all constitutional remedies. That may include contempt and it even may include impeachment of Mr. Koskinen."
In a 29-page letter to Obama that included transcripts of Koskinen and other IRS officials' hearings with his committee, Chaffetz wrote that Koskinen has "obstructed" Congressional investigations into the IRS.
"His obstruction takes the form of failure to comply with a congressional subpoena, failure to testify truthfully, and failure to preserve and produce up to 24,000 emails relevant to the investigation," Chaffetz wrote to Obama.
The call from the top House Republican comes after Koskinen has sparred with GOP lawmakers in repeated congressional hearings -- notably during a hearing last summer, when Koskinen sniped back at the lawmakers that he was not there "to play games" and insisting he never promised emails that had previously been deleted, though he would be happy to know "if you have a magical way for me to do that."
The GOP's ire stems mainly from the deletion of thousands of emails belonging to Lois Lerner, the former IRS official at the center of allegations that the agency targeted tea party groups applying for non-profit status.
Underneath all the shouting, you can hear the pathetic cry of a party which has been stripped of all power by its own ridiculous posturing. Just like all the others, this "impeachment" will prove itself to be without merit or foundation. It's just a game, intended to keep the base pissed off and hungry.
Update: This just in, via the Huffington Post. Apparently, impeaching the IRS director who wasn't at the IRS when the entire "scandal" occurred is supposed to restore confidence in the IRS.
Everyone laugh together with me now.
Chaffetz called impeachment an appropriate tool to restore public confidence in the IRS and said it will send a clear signal that the IRS is under repair.
Can we impeach all the Republican congressmen who have wasted taxpayers' time and money with political witch hunts over the past four years in order to restore public confidence in Congress?
