GOP Says Lerner Emails Show Bias Against Conservatives

Rep. Camp Calls For ‘Aggressive’ Investigation or Special Counsel of Former IRS Official.

House Republicans on Wednesday released a series of emails from 2012 showing that former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner used the terms “crazies” and “—holes” in a discussion about conservative radio hosts and callers.

Her comments came in a wide-ranging email conversation with an unidentified person, while Ms. Lerner was traveling in England.

Ms. Lerner is at the center of investigations over IRS treatment of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, as she was the head of the IRS agency that granted such exemptions.

The IRS inspector general last year concluded that the agency had targeted tea-party and other grass-roots conservative groups for burdensome scrutiny and lengthy delays as they sought tax-exempt status. Democrats contend liberal groups eventually were caught up in the net as well, and the inspector general has said investigators found no evidence of a political motivation for the targeting.

House Republicans from two committees probing the matter have been collecting emails from the IRS in recent months and releasing some of them in an effort to support their case that the IRS did, in fact, have a political motivation.

On Wednesday, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R., Mich.) released this latest grouping of emails, saying it “directly demonstrates Ms. Lerner’s deep animus toward conservatives” and shows that her “mistreatment of conservative groups was driven by her personal hostility toward conservatives.” He sent the emails to Attorney General Eric Holder and in a letter called on the Justice Department to investigate the matter “aggressively” or appoint a special counsel.

A department spokesman said, “We have received the letter and are reviewing it.”

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