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| John Koskinen IRS Commissioner |
The impeachment resolution contains four articles which allege that Koskinen: engaged in a pattern of conduct that is incompatible with his official duties; engaged in a pattern of deception that demonstrates his unfitness to serve as head of IRS; throughout his time in office, has acted in a manner inconsistent with the trust and confidence placed in him as an officer of the U.S.; and has failed to act with competence and forthrightness in overseeing the probe into the agency's targeting of Americans because of their political affiliations.
According to Chaffetz, Koskinen violated the public trust by failing to comply with a subpoena resulting in the destruction of key evidence in various probes, failing to testify truthfully, providing false and misleading information, and failing to notify Congress that key evidence was missing. The agency "vigorously disputes allegations" made in the impeachment resolution, IRS said in a statement, adding that it has "fully cooperated with all" related investigations.
The impeachment resolution was described as "ridiculous" by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), the top Democrat on the committee. It will now be referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
The impeachment resolution can be found at https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/1027-Impeachment-Resolution.pdf.
This action comes on the heels of the Justice Department finding no basis for a criminal prosecution over the IRS's mishandling of requests for tax-exempt status by political groups aligned with the Tea Party.
The Justice Dept. said, "The IRS mishandled the processing of tax-exempt applications in a manner that disproportionately impacted applicants affiliated with the Tea Party and similar groups, however, ineffective management is not a crime".
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