The Internal Revenue Service rehired 213 employees who ducked taxes, falsified documents, were convicted of theft, or made unauthorized use of taxpayer data, an inspector general’s report says.
The Office of Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, which also first discovered the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups in 2013, examined the agency’s hiring from January 2015 through March 2016.
For these 15 months, the IRS official in charge was Commissioner John Koskinen, an appointee of President Barack Obama.
House Republicans for months sought to impeach Koskinen for obstructing a congressional probe into the agency’s targeting of the applications for tax-exempt status made by nonprofit tea party and conservative groups.
“Given the substantial threat of identity theft and the magnitude of sensitive information that the IRS holds, hiring employees of high integrity is essential to maintaining public trust in tax administration and safeguarding taxpayer information,” the inspector general’s report says, adding:
Four of the more than 200 employees had been terminated or resigned for willful failure to properly file their federal tax returns; four separated [from the agency] while under investigation for unauthorized accesses to taxpayer information; and 86 separated while under investigation for absences and leave, workplace disruption, or failure to follow instructions. This includes positions with access to sensitive taxpayer information, such as contact representatives.
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This isn't the first time the IRS has done this. Between 2010 and 2013 they rehired 824 employees who had prior conduct issues. It doesn't matter who controls Washington. The bureaucracies will continue to waste taxpayer money and abuse their power unless the American people step in with an Article V Convention of States.
