GOP-led House panel urges prosecution of ex-IRS official Lois Lerner in Tea Party case

A U.S. House of Representatives committee has asked the Justice Department to consider criminal prosecution for a former U.S. Internal Revenue Service official who played a key role in last year's Tea Party scandal at the IRS.

By a vote of 23-14 along party lines, the Republican-led Ways and Means Committee referred Lois Lerner to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution. The request was submitted in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.

Lerner triggered the IRS scandal last year when, answering a planted question from the audience at a legal conference, she issued a public apology in which she said the IRS had engaged in "inappropriate" targeting of political groups with the words "Tea Party" and other conservative terms in their names.

The 14-page letter to Holder, who heads the Justice Department, said Lerner may have targeted specific taxpayers for adverse treatment, made misleading statements to law enforcement agents and possibly disclosed private taxpayer information.

At hearings in Congress, Lerner had refused to answer questions, citing her right not to testify under the U.S. Constitution.

In a statement, her attorney William Taylor said: "This is just another attempt by Republicans to vilify Ms. Lerner for political gain. Ms. Lerner has done nothing wrong. She did not violate any law or regulation. She did not ‎mislead Congress. She did not interfere with the rights of any organization to a tax exemption."

Lerner's unexpected act of contrition at the conference set off a furor on Capitol Hill, with Republican politicians accusing the IRS of unfairly singling out for extra review and delay some applications for tax-exempt status from conservative groups.

The acting head of the IRS lost his job over the matter, while numerous investigations were launched. Republicans tried to link the White House to the IRS activity, but without success. The investigations revealed no clear political bias at the IRS and showed it had also closely reviewed applications from progressive political groups for tax-exempt status.

The White House declined to comment on the committee vote. The Justice Department said its continuing investigation of the IRS "remains a high priority."

"We will review the (committee) letter once we receive it and take it under consideration," a department spokeswoman said.

[Image via Agence France-Presse]