What Skittles, the IRS Commissioner, and This Congressman Have in Common

In an otherwise repetitive three-and-a-half hours, there were several weird moments during the House Judiciary Committee hearing with IRS Commissioner John Koskinen on Wednesday. The hearing was supposed to be about impeachment articles brought against Koskinen, but Democrats on the committee used the time to attack Donald Trump instead.

Congressman Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill. (F, 24%) opened his five-minute questioning slot by chewing on a Skittle, declaring:

“I really love Skittles because, as you see, they come orange, yellow, red, and purple — all the different colors. And they come all together in a bag — together, right? All different colors, kind of like a rainbow. A lot of people on this side of the aisle … we like that,” Gutierrez opined in a none-too-subtle swipe at conservatives.

Other Democrats used their time to ask Koskinen questions about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s tax returns, charitable donations, and how the heavily scrutinized relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin might influence a Trump presidency. On all this, Koskinen demurred, nor did the Democrats acknowledge or question how the many foreign interests tied to the Clinton Foundation might affect a Hillary Clinton presidency.

Meanwhile, Republicans spent their time grilling Commissioner Koskinen on how 422 backup records with Lois Lerner’s emails on them got destroyed under his watch.

Koskinen’s account of events strains credulity: During a midnight shift in an IRS center in Martinsburg, W.V., two employees destroyed 422 backup data of Lerner’s emails after they “identified them as junk,” according to Koskinen.

This was after a standing order had been put in place by Koskinen to collect records with her emails. And, according to Koskinen, similar orders had been put in place six months before he began working for the IRS in December 2013.

The Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have serious questions about why John Koskinen — who was supposed to clean up the Lois Lerner/targeting mess at the IRS — doesn’t know more about how effective his efforts were in 2014 and ‘15. He had been on the job well over a year when the inspector general discovered that two IRS employees (one of whom still works at the IRS, Koskinen admitted Wednesday) had destroyed 422 backup records of Lerner’s emails during graveyard hours.

As someone watching the hearing, I began to wonder two hours in why House Republicans haven’t already issued a subpoena for Koskinen’s emails to see what he was saying about the Lerner emails, and what he might have known about the backup records. Doing so would have enabled Republicans to ask more detailed questions and possibly shed light on whether Koskinen’s excuses are really just that — excuses for incompetency, or even flat-out lies.

Three hours after the hearing started, Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah (C, 78%) and Chairman Bob Goodlatte R-Va. (D, 66%) finally asked Koskinen for “any written communication” regarding the standing order he put in place asking IRS employees to retrieve information on the Lerner emails.

Still, they could have made their ask broader so as to include the written communications of senior-level IRS employees — especially ones that work directly under Koskinen. One of the persistent complaints from Republicans against Commissioner Koskinen during this hearing was that he’s the head of the IRS … but seems to have no control over very destructive practices of his staff.

Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have five legislative days to submit written inquiries to Koskinen, and it would behoove them to demand written communications from any IRS employee who might have known or covered up the destruction of evidence before Congress breaks for a long October recess. Some members of the Freedom Caucus may attempt to force a vote on Koskinen’s impeachment after the November elections, after they tried but failed to do so last week.

As Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz. (A, 90%) pointed out during Wednesday’s hearing, Koskinen “would never let an American taxpayer treat an IRS audit” like he has treated the House’s inquiries into the IRS scandal and his incompetent clean-up job. Regardless, Koskinen declared that he’s “proud” of his “overall record at the IRS.”

Whether John Koskinen is a liar, negligent, or just incompetent, he needs to go. (For more from the author of “What Skittles, the IRS Commissioner, and This Congressman Have in Common” please click HERE)

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