Sen. Isakson Vows to Hold IRS Accountable
Michelle Wirth/WABE News
While speaking in Sandy Springs on Tuesday, Georgia U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson vowed to hold the IRS accountable for a scandal that has recently rocked the agency. The scandal started after the release of a Treasury Department Inspector General’s report alleging the agency targeted tea party and other conservative groups applying for tax exempt status.
Isakson serves on the senate finance committee and told seniors at Mount Vernon Towers in Sandy Springs he will do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of the scandal. The Senator says even though Lois Lerner, the head of the IRS’ division on tax-exempt organizations, took the fifth amendment during a recent congressional hearing, there are ways of learning what really happened.
“We have two directors that are gone and a new director pending coming in. We’re going to have to have audits, standards and accountability to see to it that nowhere in the IRS is there an iota of room for an IRS agent to become a vigilante and pick on people he or she just don’t happen to agree with philosophically, religiously or politically.”
And when reporters later asked if the scandal’s trail goes all the way to the White House Isakson responded…
“There are no indications that it could have, there are no indications that it did not. We just need to follow the trail and see where it takes us.”
President Obama has condemned the targeting and has pledged to work with Congress as it investigates the matter. So far, the scandal has prompted congressional probes and the resignation of two top agency officials. Lerner has been placed on administrative leave.While speaking in Sandy Springs on Tuesday, Georgia U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson vowed to hold the IRS accountable for a scandal that has recently rocked the agency. The scandal started after the release of a Treasury Department Inspector General’s report alleging the agency targeted tea party and other conservative groups applying for tax exempt status.
Isakson serves on the senate finance committee and told seniors at Mount Vernon Towers in Sandy Springs he will do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of the scandal. The Senator says even though Lois Lerner, the head of the IRS’ division on tax-exempt organizations, took the fifth amendment during a recent congressional hearing, there are ways of learning what really happened.
“We have two directors that are gone and a new director pending coming in. We’re going to have to have audits, standards and accountability to see to it that nowhere in the IRS is there an iota of room for an IRS agent to become a vigilante and pick on people he or she just don’t happen to agree with philosophically, religiously or politically.”
And when reporters later asked if the scandal’s trail goes all the way to the White House Isakson responded…
“There are no indications that it could have, there are no indications that it did not. We just need to follow the trail and see where it takes us.”
President Obama has condemned the targeting and has pledged to work with Congress as it investigates the matter. So far, the scandal has prompted congressional probes and the resignation of two top agency officials. Lerner has been placed on administrative leave.
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