Two prominent House Republicans criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions for declining to reopen a criminal investigation into charges that former IRS Director Lois Lerner violated several federal laws by targeting conservative groups and lying to Congress during its three-year probe.
House Ways and Means Committee chairman Kevin Brady (R., Texas) and Rep. Peter Roskam (R., Ill.), who chairs the panel’s tax policy subcommittee, angrily reacted to a Thursday letter from Sessions’ informing them of the Department of Justice’s decision not to reopen a criminal investigation against Lerner.
"This is a terrible decision," Brady said in a statement. "It sends the message that the same legal, ethical and Constitutional standards we all live by do not apply to Washington political appointees—who will now have the green light to target Americans for their political belief and mislead investigators without ever being held accountable for their lawlessness."
Brady also pointed out that the Justice Department is choosing not to hold Lerner criminally liable for obstructing an inspector general’s investigation into her and other IRS officials’ activity, and noted Justice is also continuing to defend the IRS’s "unconstitutional actions against taxpayers in ongoing civil litigation."
"I have the utmost respect for Attorney General Sessions," he said, "but I’m troubled by his department’s lack of action to fully respond to our request and deliver accountability."
Justice’s decision does not mean Lerner is innocent, but instead is proof that the justice system in Washington is "deeply flawed," he said.
Roskam called the decision not to prosecute Lerner a "miscarriage of justice."
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The swamp draining is not going well. Fortunately, a Convention of States can limit the power of federal officials like Lerner and reduce the size and scope of the federal government altogether.
