"A cure well worse than the disease"

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Lew: No Political Pressure on IRS
By Jeffrey Sparshott, May 22, 2013

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Congress Wednesday it would have been wrong for the White House or the Treasury Department to intervene in Internal Revenue Service administration of the tax system amid reports that the agency was targeting conservative groups.

“It would be inappropriate as the White House chief of staff, as the secretary of the Treasury to try to put any political pressure on our tax system. I never did, I never would,” Mr. Lew testified at a House Financial Services Committee hearing. “That is why I didn’t pay an awful lot of attention to questions of the administration of our tax system–because it wasn’t something that I would have intervened in.”

“Please, let’s not get into a world where we start having the White House jump into administration of the tax system, because that would be a cure well worse than the disease,” Mr. Lew added during his second congressional appearance where he was asked about the IRS matter.

The IRS is facing multiple congressional probes and a Justice Department criminal investigation after disclosures that it gave extra scrutiny to conservative groups applying for nonprofit status.

Republican lawmakers grilled Mr. Lew, who served as President Barack Obama‘s chief of staff before joining the Treasury Department in February, on when he first knew that the agency was targeting specific groups. In one heated exchange, Rep. Sean Duffy (R., Wis.) repeatedly asked: “When did you learn that the IRS was targeting Americans?”

Mr. Lew maintained that he first became aware of the facts of the situation when an inspector general’s report was released last week.  But he said he found out about the IG audit on March 15.

“I was informed of the fact that there was an audit under way on March 15th, when I had an initial meeting with the inspector general,” he said. “It was brought to my attention at a very high level that it was an investigation regarding 501(c)(4) approvals and I was told that there could be some troubling findings. And then I did what is an appropriate thing: I did not do anything to get in the way of an independent IG review.”

The targeting was first made public on May 10, when an IRS official apologized at a Washington conference. The inspector general’s report was released May 14.

Mr. Duffy said it was clear that the Treasury secretary knew of improper targeting before the investigation was made public.

Here’s a partial transcript of the Duffy-Lew exchange:

Mr. Duffy: “I’m not asking about an investigation. …My question is, when did you learn that the IRS was targeting different Americans because of political views.”

Mr. Lew: “I had no knowledge until the dates I’m describing. People can make all kinds of allegations but I had knowledge on the dates that I described.”

Mr. Duffy: “So the first time that you heard about any targeting of Americans by the IRS was when you read the IG report. Is that your testimony?”

Mr. Lew: “You’re asking me when I knew. I answered.”

Mr. Duffy: “I’m not asking you or the president when you heard about an IG report. I want to know when you learned thatthe IRS was targeting Americans? ”

Mr. Lew: “I’m telling you when the facts were available to me.”

Mr. Duffy: “Outside of the IG report, that’s the first time you heard about it was the IG report?”

Mr. Lew: “I had no facts…”

Mr. Duffy: “I’m not asking about facts.”

Mr. Lew: “Then what are you asking me?”

Mr. Duffy: “When did you learn that the IRS was targeting Americans?”

Mr. Lew: “You’re not going to like my answer.”

And on it went for about five minutes. Following the exchange, Rep. Brad Sherman (D., Calif.) told Mr. Lew to take a deep breath. “You’ve earned it,” Mr. Sherman said.
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