[House Report 113-545]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
113th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 113-545
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DIRECTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO TRANSMIT TO THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES COPIES OF ANY EMAILS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE THAT WERE TRANSMITTED TO OR FROM THE EMAIL
ACCOUNT(S) OF FORMER INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS
DIVISION DIRECTOR LOIS LERNER BETWEEN JANUARY 2009 AND APRIL 2011
_______
July 22, 2014.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be
printed
_______
Mr. Goodlatte, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H. Res. 646]
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the
resolution (H. Res. 646) directing the Attorney General to
transmit to the House of Representatives copies of any emails
in the possession of the Department of Justice that were
transmitted to or from the email account(s) of former Internal
Revenue Service Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois
Lerner between January 2009 and April 2011, having considered
the same, report without amendment and without recommendation.
CONTENTS
Page
Purpose and Summary.............................................. 1
Background and Need for the Legislation.......................... 2
Hearings......................................................... 3
Committee Consideration.......................................... 3
Committee Votes.................................................. 3
Committee Oversight Findings..................................... 3
Duplication of Federal Programs.................................. 3
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings.............................. 3
Performance Goals and Objectives................................. 3
Advisory on Earmarks............................................. 4
Section-by-Section Analysis...................................... 4
Purpose and Summary
H. Res. 646 directs the Attorney General to transmit to the
House of Representatives copies of any emails in the possession
of the Department of Justice that were transmitted to or from
the email account(s) of former Internal Revenue Service Exempt
Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner between January
2009 and April 2011.
Background and Need for the Legislation
On May 10, 2013, former IRS Exempt Organizations Division
Director Lois Lerner admitted, during an American Bar
Association meeting, that some organizations seeking tax-exempt
status under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code
were targeted for additional scrutiny by the IRS. Groups
targeted for this additional scrutiny included those with names
that included certain political terms like ``Tea Party,''
``Patriots,'' or ``Progressive.'' Several Congressional
Committees, including the Committee on Ways and Means and the
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, opened
investigations into this matter.
On May 15, 2013, Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr.,
testified before the Judiciary Committee that the Justice
Department would conduct a ``dispassionate'' investigation into
the IRS's admittedly inappropriate treatment of certain groups,
and that the Department would ``go wherever the facts lead
us.''
On June 11, 2014, FBI Director James Comey testified before
the Judiciary Committee. In response to questions from Chairman
Goodlatte, Director Comey indicated that the FBI is currently
conducting ``a very active investigation'' of the IRS targeting
matter. The Director stated that ``There is an investigation
because there was a reasonable basis to believe that crimes had
been committed . . . so, we are conducting that
investigation.''
The Committee investigations, as well as a lawsuit by the
organization Judicial Watch, led to the revelation of emails
between Lois Lerner and the Justice Department's Election
Crimes branch. The emails show that the IRS in October 2010
sent 1.1 million pages of nonprofit tax-return data--including
confidential taxpayer information--to the FBI, potentially in
violation of Federal law. In April 2014, emails were revealed
showing that Ms. Lerner was in contact with the Justice
Department in May 2013 about whether tax-exempt groups could be
criminally prosecuted for ``lying'' about political activity.
Congressional investigators then sought any additional emails
in possession of the IRS pertaining to the contact between Ms.
Lerner and the Justice Department.
On June 13, 2014, the IRS told investigators that it lost
an untold number of Lois Lerner's emails dated from January 1,
2009 to April 2011. While Congressional investigators were in
possession of some Lerner emails from this time period, those
only include emails written to or from other IRS employees. Any
emails written to or from Lerner with people outside the IRS,
including personnel at the Department of Justice, were,
according to the IRS, lost in the 2011 hard drive crash. The
IRS provided Congress with contemporaneous emails showing that
Lerner sought assistance from IT employees--including forensic
lab technicians--but that her data was unrecoverable.
On May 7, 2014, the House passed H. Res. 565, a resolution
calling upon the Attorney General to appoint a Special Counsel
to investigate the IRS's targeting of certain groups.
On June 25, 2014, Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX)
introduced H. Res. 646, which directs the Attorney General to
transmit to the House of Representatives copies of any emails
in the possession of the Department of Justice that were
transmitted to or from the email account(s) of former Internal
Revenue Service Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois
Lerner between January 2009 and April 2011.
Hearings
The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H. Res.
646.
Committee Consideration
On July 16, 2014, the Committee met in open session and
ordered the resolution H. Res. 646 reported without
recommendation and without amendment, by voice vote, a quorum
being present.
Committee Votes
In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there
were no recorded votes during the Committee's consideration of
H. Res. 646.
Committee Oversight Findings
In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules
of the House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on
oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the
Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the
descriptive portions of this report.
Duplication of Federal Programs
No provision of H. Res. 646 establishes or reauthorizes a
program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of
another Federal program, a program that was included in any
report from the Government Accountability Office to Congress
pursuant to section 21 of Public Law No. 111-139, or a program
related to a program identified in the most recent Catalog of
Federal Domestic Assistance.
Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings
The Committee estimates that H. Res. 646 specifically
directs to be completed no specific rule makings within the
meaning of 5 U.S.C. Sec. 551.
Performance Goals and Objectives
The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H. Res.
646 directs the Attorney General to transmit to the House of
Representatives copies of any emails in the possession of the
Department of Justice that were transmitted to or from the
email account(s) of former Internal Revenue Service Exempt
Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner between January
2009 and April 2011.
Advisory on Earmarks
In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the
House of Representatives, H. Res. 646 does not contain any
congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff
benefits as defined in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of Rule XXI.
Section-by-Section Analysis
The following discussion describes the resolution as
reported by the Committee.
H. Res. 646 directs the Attorney General to transmit to the
House of Representatives copies of any emails in the possession
of the Department of Justice that were transmitted to or from
the email account(s) of former Internal Revenue Service Exempt
Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner between January
2009 and April 2011.