“Mr. Koskinen should no longer be the IRS commissioner”

Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs, sent a letter to Obama requesting the firing of IRS chief John Koskinen. Chaffetz stated that Koskinen repeatedly “obstructed” congressional efforts to investigate the IRS’s political targeting taxpayers. Chaffetz quoted his letter in a Capitol Hill press conference,

At best, Commissioner Koskinen was derelict in his duties to preserve agency records. At worst, he and the IRS engaged in an orchestrated plan to hide information from Congress.

Back in 2013, Obama promised to “work hand-in-hand with Congress to fix the problem” when the public learned about the IRS targeting. In the 2013 House investigation, Lois Lerner, ex-IRS official, revealed that the IRS targeted Tea Party groups and other conservatives from April 2010 to April 2012 for higher scrutiny and auditing. However, in March 2014 Lerner asserted her Fifth Amendment rights, repeatedly refused to testify at trials, and was subsequently held in contempt.

When Lerner resigned as director of the Exempt Organizations unit In September 2013, Koshen was installed and confirmed. Unfortunately, Koshkinen has failed to restore any faith in the agency.

Chaffetz also emphasized that Koskinen failed to testify truthfully, comply with subpoenas and preserve up to 24,000 emails related to the investigation. If Obama does not remove Koskinen, Chaffetz vows to

pursue all constitutional remedies at our disposal, including potential contempt proceedings or perhaps impeachment.

Ultimately, Chaffetz calls the concealed facts surrounding the IRS targeting “an unacceptable outcome and one that demands those responsible be held accountable.” See the House Oversight Committee’s video “There Must Be Accountability” here.