XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: lying-old-hag@hillaryclinton.com   
      
   Does anyone in the Obama administration follow the law?   
      
   No.   
      
   WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service did not follow the law   
   when it failed to report the loss of records belonging to a   
   senior IRS executive, the nation's top archivist told Congress   
   Tuesday.   
      
   "Any agency is required to notify us when they realize they have   
   a problem," David Ferriero, archivist of the U.S. during a House   
   Oversight and Government Reform committee hearing.   
      
   RELATED:   
   Boehner: Administration not helping in IRS probe   
   AP: IRS head says no obstruction of Congress in probe   
   AP: Defiant IRS head, skeptical GOP interrogators   
      
   In June 2011, former IRS executive Lois Lerner's computer   
   crashed, resulting in the loss of records that are sought in   
   investigations into the agency targeting conservative groups   
   seeking tax-exempt status. At the time, the agency tried to   
   recover the records, but without success.   
      
   Republicans have questioned the timing of the hard drive crash,   
   suggesting key records sought in the investigation have   
   conveniently gone missing.   
      
   In a rare evening hearing before the same committee Monday, IRS   
   Commissioner John Koskinen said that he has seen no evidence   
   anyone committed a crime when the agency lost emails that might   
   shed light on the targeting of tea party and other political   
   groups before the 2010 and 2012 elections.   
      
   Pressed by a congressman, Tuesday, Ferriero would not state that   
   the IRS broke the law. He would only say that the agency didn't   
   "follow" the law.   
      
   "Federal agencies are responsible for preventing the   
   unauthorized disposition of federal records, including their   
   unlawful or accidental destruction, deletion, alteration, or   
   removal from federal custody," he said. "When an agency becomes   
   aware of an incident of unauthorized destruction, they must   
   report the incident to us."   
      
   The National Archives and Records Administration did not learn   
   about the lost records until earlier this month, Ferriero said.   
      
   RELATED:   
   Rep. Peter Roskam to ousted IRS chief Miller: "Is that all you   
   got?   
   Huntley: Obama rises and falls on his oratory   
   House votes to hold Lois Lerner in contempt   
      
   Tuesday's was the third hearing held since it was disclosed on   
   June 13 that some of Lerner's emails were missing due to a hard   
   drive failure. Lerner has refused to answer questions, citing   
   her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself.   
      
   Monday night, committee chairman Darrell Issa, of California,   
   subpoenaed White House counsel Jennifer O'Connor to testify   
   about her time at the IRS from May to November 2013. While at   
   the IRS, O'Connor helped the agency gather documents related to   
   the congressional investigation.   
      
   On Tuesday, Issa called O'Connor a "hostile witness."   
      
   O'Connor disagreed. "I'm definitely not hostile," she said.   
      
   Later in the hearing, Issa said he consulted with another member   
   who is a former prosecutor and the proper term to describe   
   O'Connor is a "non-cooperative witness."   
      
   House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, on Tuesday said the   
   Obama administration is not helping Congress get to the truth   
   over the IRS' close scrutiny of conservative groups and the   
   agency's recent revelation that it lost emails related to that   
   probe.   
      
   "They've not only not fully cooperated, they haven't done a damn   
   thing to help us get to the truth of what really happened,"   
   Boehner, of Ohio, said. "Lois Lerner refuses to tell us the   
   truth, and then all of sudden, 'Oh my goodness, we lose two   
   years' worth emails.' Listen, I grew up in a bar, this doesn't   
   pass the straight face test."   
      
   Lerner headed the division that processes applications for tax-   
   exempt status. The Oversight Committee is investigating the   
   handling of applications from tea party and other political   
   groups. In May, the House voted to hold Lerner in contempt of   
   Congress. Congressional investigators want Lerner's emails to   
   see if there is evidence that anyone outside the IRS was   
   involved.   
      
   Koskinen said there was no evidence that Lerner intentionally   
   destroyed the emails. To the contrary, he said the IRS went to   
   great lengths trying to retrieve lost documents on Lerner's   
   computer, even sending it to the agency's forensic lab.   
      
   In 2011, the IRS had a policy of backing up emails on computer   
   tapes, but the tapes were recycled every six months, Koskinen   
   said. He said Lerner's hard drive was recycled and presumably   
   destroyed.   
      
   The IRS was able to generate 24,000 Lerner emails from the 2009   
   to 2011 period because she had copied in other IRS employees.   
   Overall, the IRS said it is producing a total of 67,000 emails   
   to and from Lerner, covering the period from 2009 to 2013.   
      
   The IRS inspector general is investigating the lost emails,   
   Koskinen said.   
      
   http://politics.suntimes.com/article/washington/archivist-irs-   
   didnt-follow-law-lost-emails/tue-06242014-433pm   
      
          
      
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