Lois Lerner Retires -- Courtesy the American Taxpayer
The IRS official at the epicenter of the targeting scandal has now "retired." Lois Lerner, under fire since she confessed on May 10, 2013, that the IRS had singled out Tea Party and other conservative groups for extra scrutiny, has been on paid leave while revelation after revelation has demonstrated that she was not only instrumental in targeting Tea Party groups, but she also misled the American public when the "confessed" to IRS wrongdoing.
Leaked documents show that Lerner saw the Tea Party applications as "extremely dangerous," that she took the lead in yanking them from Cincinnati to Washington, D.C. -- where they were ultimately scrutinized in the IRS Chief Counsel's office -- and she hoped that other federal agencies would "save the day" from conservative electoral gains. Yet no other federal agency had to "save the day" as the IRS conducted its systematic targeting of conservatives.
Lerner had been on paid administrative leave, collecting a paycheck from taxpayers even as IRS officials kept signing her name to official correspondence. Now she's retired, still collecting a check from taxpayers.
In response, ACLJ Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow made the following statement:
The reports of Lois Lerner's retirement is just another troubling move by the IRS to fail to hold those responsible for the illegal targeting scheme accountable. Since May, she has been on paid leave - her salary continuing to be paid by taxpayers. Now, in retirement, she will continue to receive compensation and benefits - again, courtesy of the taxpayers. It is our hope that Congress continues its investigation and recalls her to testify about the new evidence revealed in recent weeks - evidence that reveals her partisanship and entrenched involvement in this scheme. Her retirement - along with her continued compensation - is deeply disturbing and sends the wrong message about accountability.
Lerner has retired, but her legal troubles are not over. The FBI is conducting a criminal investigation, Congress investigates, and the ACLJ is pressing forward with its own lawsuit -- brought on behalf of 41 conservative groups in 22 states -- to hold Lerner and other senior IRS officials accountable for their unconstitutional abuse of the First Amendment.