Griffin calls IRS response to missing emails “unacceptable”

Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen’s recent testimony on the IRS’s alleged targeting of non-profit conservative groups and missing agency emails was “incomplete and unacceptable.”

Koskinen testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on Friday regarding the IRS’s treatment of 501c4 groups and the agency’s recent admission that more than two years of emails from former IRS official Lois Lerner and other officials were missing.

Griffin, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said Koskinen knew the emails were missing as early as February but declined to inform the committee until this month despite an ongoing investigation.

“It is also outrageous that Koskinen (on Friday) likened the IRS’ computer system to a Model T car when the IRS has had an information technology (IT) budget of $2 billion a year for the last 10 years,” Griffin said.

Griffin said Congress, and the House Ways and Means Committee in particular, would continue to press for answers to questions related to the missing emails.

“American taxpayers cannot claim that they lost their receipts when trying to pay their taxes, and the IRS must be held to the same standard,” Griffin said. “We demand accountability at the IRS and will continue searching for the truth as we investigate the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups.”