Posted on 07/21/2014 6:13:12 PM PDT by smoothsailing
The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform panel is objecting to a plan to call the Internal Revenue Service commissioner to testify for a third time in a matter of weeks, calling it “public harassment of an agency head.”
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., sent a letter Monday to Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., objecting to a decision to call Commissioner John Koskinen to testify at a hearing on Wednesday. It would be the third time Koskinen appeared before the panel in the past month, Cummings noted.
“Requiring Commissioner Koskinen to testify again this week not only takes him away from the day-to-day duties of operating an agency with 90,000 employees, but it also diverts our Committee from conducting responsible oversight on many key areas that traditionally have been part of our jurisdiction,” Cummings said in the letter.
Issa, who is serving his last term as head of the oversight panel, has summoned Koskinen this week to provide an update to the panel on the investigation into targeting of conservative groups seeking tax exempt status, including the status of missing emails from top IRS officials.
Republicans believe they have been stonewalled by the agency.
Cummings requested Issa instead hold a hearing on one of eleven topics requested in the past by panel Democrats, including fraud by for-profit hospitals, excessive CEO pay, illegal foreclosure abuse and December's credit card security breach at Target.
“Each of these thoughtful requests from Members of our Committee is more worthy than yet another hearing with the IRS Commissioner this month,” Cummings said. “With just 34 legislative days remaining in the 113th Congress -- and your chairmanship -- I urge you to restore the Committee's traditional oversight priorities and work together on a bipartisan agenda our entire Committee can support.”
An Issa spokesman said Cummings has wanted to end the probe into the IRS targeting for a year, despite evidence suggesting wrongdoing by the agency.
”Despite efforts by the Ranking Member to obstruct fact-based oversight, Commissioner Koskinen actually informed the subcommittee that he would be available to testify on this date back on July 3," the spokesman said. "On July 9, he even appeared in front of another Oversight subcommittee despite the fact that the Commissioner – and not the Committee – had asked if he could testify."
STOP DRAGGING THIS THING OUT.. WE WANT JAIL TIME FOR THESE IRS THUGS.
The GOP has multitudes of campaign material to nationalize practically every election and form a message.
They are useless.
Well .. I can’t figure out why he’s at the dias; why he’s allowed to ask any questions; why he’s allowed to be participating in this investigation AT ALL, SINCE HE WAS INVOLVED IN THE IRS SCANDAL FROM THE BEGINNING - AND WE ALREADY KNOW THAT BECAUSE OF HIS EMAIL.
Cummings is just stalling for time so the IRS can finish crashing all the hard drives, backup files, and file 13 papers.
Cummings belongs in Leavenworth for his involvement in the targeting of Conservatives..he knows it, everyone knows it..yet no charges have been filed against him..I would be dollars for donuts that Cummings and Koskinen had some very interesting email conversations regarding this matter
I agree with you. The real coverup is to protect elected officials, not someone like Lerner. Democrats like Cummings, Durbin, Levin, Schumer, Whitehouse, all the way up to Obama.
Yup!
Whoa! That’s just down right creepy!
Racist POS, that’s all.
I agree. He’s one of the most racist pigs on Capitol Hill, IMHO.
The headline says “of” and I think it meant “by.”
Uncanny....
Everyone in Cummings’ district likes the IRS. It collects their bling money from “other people.”
Doesn’t he look like the cartoon of Homer Simpson as a monkey?
He sure chatters like one and has the intelligence of a sea slug. Or did I just insult sea slugs? If so, I apologize.
Cummings - Maryland’s perfect example of why the state is in the crapper.
LEAVE THE IRS ALONE!
I was standing out on the balcony of my condo and I heard loud screaming. I couldn’t tell if it was coming from up above or down below. Suddenly I realized it was Richard Nixon screaming at the top of his lungs. “You mean to tell me I resigned because of a three-minute gap in a tape and Obama and the IRS can destroy entire hard drives and get away with it. I demand a do-over.”
Too much fun watching Koskinen smirk and slither about during testimony while he gets his ass handed to him by Gowdym et al.
what part of ‘public service’ doesn’t a ‘public employee’ understand? maybe the part they are accountable to the ‘public’ via ‘public hearings’ before Congress, who is their boss on behalf of the ‘public’, and so there is no privacy as might be seen in a private corporation? don’t like it? quit.
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