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Lois G. Lerner, the woman at the center of the IRS tea party targeting scandal, retired from the agency Monday morning after an internal investigation found she was guilty of “neglect of duties” and was going to call for her ouster, according to congressional staff.
Her departure marks the first person to pay a significant price in the scandal, though Republicans were quick to say her decision doesn’t put the matter to rest, and pointed out that she can still be called before Congress to testify.
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The IRS confirmed Ms. Lerner’s retirement in a statement, but said it couldn’t release any more information because of privacy concerns.
But Rep. Sander Levin, ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said an Accountability Review Board set up to investigate the people at the agency involved with the scandal, completed their review and were set to recommend her ouster. The review board, though, found no evidence of political bias, he said.
Ms. Lerner was head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS, which oversaw applications for tax-exempt status, including those from political groups.
Several congressional committees had been looking into her behavior and into emails that seemed to suggest she was looking for reasons to deny political groups approval for tax-exempt status.
Last week acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said he’d asked both a review board and the agency’s inspector general to look at the emails.
Republicans said Ms. Lerner’s resignation, while a first step, isn’t the end of the scandal.
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“Just because Lois Lerner is retiring from the IRS does not mean the investigation is over. Far from it,” said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. “In fact, there are many serious unanswered questions that must be addressed so we can get to the truth.”
But Mr. Levin, who had called for Ms. Lerner to resign early on, said there is still no evidence of political motivation in Ms. Lerner’s actions or those of others at the IRS. He said the GOP is stretching to create a political scandal.
“The basic overreaching premise of the Republicans that the IRS had an ‘enemies list’ and was being influenced from the outside has been proven wrong again, as it has again and again,” Mr. Levin said. “Just as the IRS has to move with all deliberate speed to restore the public trust, so too must the Republicans by not distorting the investigation and by acknowledging the improvements.”
Ms. Lerner had previously refused to testify to Congress, citing her Fifth amendment right against self-incrimination. But when she appeared before Congress she also delivered a brief statement claiming innocence, which some members of the House oversight committee said means she waived her right to silence.
She remains subject to being called back to testify before the committee.
Her departure marks the first person to pay a significant price in the scandal, though Republicans were quick to say her decision doesn’t put the matter to rest, and pointed out that she can still be called before Congress to testify.
PHOTOS: President Obama's favorite footstool: The famous Resolute desk
The IRS confirmed Ms. Lerner’s retirement in a statement, but said it couldn’t release any more information because of privacy concerns.
But Rep. Sander Levin, ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said an Accountability Review Board set up to investigate the people at the agency involved with the scandal, completed their review and were set to recommend her ouster. The review board, though, found no evidence of political bias, he said.
Ms. Lerner was head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS, which oversaw applications for tax-exempt status, including those from political groups.
Several congressional committees had been looking into her behavior and into emails that seemed to suggest she was looking for reasons to deny political groups approval for tax-exempt status.
Last week acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said he’d asked both a review board and the agency’s inspector general to look at the emails.
Republicans said Ms. Lerner’s resignation, while a first step, isn’t the end of the scandal.
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“Just because Lois Lerner is retiring from the IRS does not mean the investigation is over. Far from it,” said Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. “In fact, there are many serious unanswered questions that must be addressed so we can get to the truth.”
But Mr. Levin, who had called for Ms. Lerner to resign early on, said there is still no evidence of political motivation in Ms. Lerner’s actions or those of others at the IRS. He said the GOP is stretching to create a political scandal.
“The basic overreaching premise of the Republicans that the IRS had an ‘enemies list’ and was being influenced from the outside has been proven wrong again, as it has again and again,” Mr. Levin said. “Just as the IRS has to move with all deliberate speed to restore the public trust, so too must the Republicans by not distorting the investigation and by acknowledging the improvements.”
Ms. Lerner had previously refused to testify to Congress, citing her Fifth amendment right against self-incrimination. But when she appeared before Congress she also delivered a brief statement claiming innocence, which some members of the House oversight committee said means she waived her right to silence.
She remains subject to being called back to testify before the committee.
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