The IRS Is An Out Of Control Agency

IRS Once Again Called Out for Erasing Hard Drives in Violation of a Court Order

BY MICHAEL HAUSAM (3 HOURS AGO) | POLITICS

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A federal judge had ruled that the IRS was required to preserve a hard drive that was involved in a lawsuit, but the agency destroyed it anyway. Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and committee member Jim Jordan (R-OH) Chairman wrote a scathing letter to the agency’s head in response.

The details of the case, unrelated to the years-long scandal involving former IRS staffer Lois Lerner and the government’s treatment of the non-profit status of tea party groups, have to do with a lawsuit brought against the government by Microsoft.

The software giant asserted that the tax agency acted improperly and sued in response. They then requested documents, as part of a Freedom of Information Act request, and the judge involved required the IRS to preserve the hard drive on which they were stored.

They didn’t.

Chaffetz and Jordan wrote the letter to John Koskinen, the IRS Commissioner, to require documentation of current processes to preserve documents and anything related to the hard drive in question for the case.

They also said this:

“The destruction of evidence subject to preservation orders and subpoenas has been an ongoing problem under your leadership at the IRS. It is stunning to see that the IRS does not take reasonable care to preserve documents that it is legally required to protect.”

Chaffetz had called for Koskinen’s impeachment last fall for destroying information and giving false testimony during the tea party scandal. Ultimately, the Justice Department declined to bring charges against Lerner or anyone else involved.