Republicans want to know why Trump hasn’t asked discredited IRS chief Koskinen to step aside
03/09/2017 / By JD Heyes
It isn’t as though President Donald J. Trump hasn’t had a lot on his plate since taking office, but a growing number of Republicans are asking what is actually a fairly obviously question: Why hasn’t the new president sacked one of the worst IRS commissioners in the history of the agency, John Koskinen?
During his tenure during the Obama administration, Koskinen allowed the Internal Revenue Service to be completely politicized, then he covered for the politicization and abuse of mostly conservative organizations by lying to Congress and destroying evidence (allegedly).
Yet, as reported by Fox News, nearly two months into Trump’s tenure and this hack remains at his post. And frankly, not a few Republicans are demanding to know why. (RELATED: Smoking gun: Emails reveal Lois Lerner warning IRS employees to be cautious about what they say in emails.)
After all, Koskinen was targeted for impeachment at one point, they noted. Yet Trump hasn’t made any effort at all to rid his administration of one of his potentially thorniest Obama holdovers, though Koskinen’s five-year term is up in November.
In January, 50 members of the Republican Study Committee, one of Congress’ most conservative groups, asked then-President-elect Trump to fire Koskinen as soon as possible, citing his incomplete congressional testimony and demonstrably false statements made during probes into the Obama administration’s use of the agency to target conservative 501(c)(3) political organizations seeking tax-exempt status ahead of the 2012 elections.
Spotted in the Capitol last week by Fox News, Koskinen told the network he was there to meet with “old friends.” When pressed as to whether or not the Trump White House was planning to keep him on, he simply replied, “They haven’t talked to me.”
White House officials later asked about Koskinen’s future merely said there were no personnel decisions to announce at the moment.
But House Republicans aren’t about to let it slide.
“President Trump should fire Commissioner Koskinen and replace him with someone that will bring integrity and competence to the IRS,” House Judiciary Committee Chariman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., told Fox News earlier this week.
In October 2015, House Oversight Chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, drew up articles of impeachment against Koskinen for allegedly thwarting congressional investigations and lying to lawmakers.
“When Congress asks you a question, you’re expected to give a truthful answer,” he said during opening remarks in making the case for Koskinen’s impeachment. “When Congress issues a subpoena, compliance is not optional. Imagine if a taxpayer failed to comply with an IRS summons or subpoena, what would they do to you?” (RELATED: Wait, What? House FINALLY Ready To Act Against Crooked IRS Chief, Republicans Considering Impeachment.)
Koskinen also stands accused by some of destroying evidence Republicans were seeking in their investigation into the IRS’ treatment of conservative groups. As Breitbart News noted in September, that alone is grounds for impeachment, and that even Democrats who would likely not vote to impeach should be forced to publicly take a side.
“Let them hear the evidence — how Congress re-issued a subpoena for the emails of former Exempt Organizations head Lois Lerner; how backup tapes of Lerner’s emails — mysteriously destroyed on her hard drive — were erased by IRS employees; and how Koskinen did not inform Congress, instead claiming Lerner’s emails were unrecoverable,” the site noted.
J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for Natural News and News Target, as well as editor of The National Sentinel.
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Tagged Under: corruption, impeachment, IRS, John Koskinen, Obama Administration, Trump.news
