H.Res. 565 — Calling on Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., to appoint a special counsel to investigate the targeting of conservative nonprofit groups by the Internal Revenue Service.

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 565 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 565

 Calling on Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., to appoint a special 
 counsel to investigate the targeting of conservative nonprofit groups 
                    by the Internal Revenue Service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 2, 2014

  Mr. Jordan (for himself, Mr. Boustany, Mr. Goodlatte, Mr. Camp, Mr. 
  Issa, Mr. Sensenbrenner, Mr. Chaffetz, and Mr. Gowdy) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Calling on Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., to appoint a special 
 counsel to investigate the targeting of conservative nonprofit groups 
                    by the Internal Revenue Service.

Whereas in February of 2010, the Internal Revenue Service (``IRS'') began 
        targeting conservative nonprofit groups for extra scrutiny in connection 
        with applications for tax-exempt status;
Whereas on May 14, 2013, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration 
        (TIGTA) issued an audit report entitled, ``Inappropriate Criteria Were 
        Used to Identify Tax-Exempt Applications for Review'';
Whereas the TIGTA audit report found that from 2010 until 2012 the IRS 
        systematically subjected tax-exempt applicants to extra scrutiny based 
        on inappropriate criteria, including use of the phrases ``Tea Party'', 
        ``Patriots'', and ``9/12'';
Whereas the TIGTA audit report found that the groups selected for extra scrutiny 
        based on inappropriate criteria were subjected to years-long delay 
        without cause;
Whereas the TIGTA audit report found that the groups selected for extra scrutiny 
        based on inappropriate criteria were subjected to inappropriate and 
        burdensome information requests, including requests for information 
        about donors and political beliefs;
Whereas on January 27, 2010, in his State of the Union Address, President Barack 
        Obama criticized the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission 
        decision, saying: ``With all due deference to separation of powers, last 
        week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will 
        open the floodgates for special interests--including foreign 
        corporations--to spend without limit in our elections'';
Whereas throughout 2010, President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats 
        publicly criticized the Citizens United decision and conservative-
        oriented tax-exempt organizations;
Whereas the Exempt Organizations Division within the IRS's Tax-Exempt and 
        Government Entities Division has jurisdiction over the processing and 
        determination of tax-exempt applications;
Whereas on September 15, 2010, Lois G. Lerner, Director of the Exempt 
        Organizations Division, initiated a project to examine political 
        activity of 501(c)(4) organizations, writing to her colleagues, ``[w]e 
        need to be cautious so it isn't a per se political project'';
Whereas on October 19, 2010, Lois G. Lerner told an audience at Duke 
        University's Sanford School of Public Policy that ``everybody'' is 
        ``screaming'' at the IRS ``to fix the problem'' posed by the Citizens 
        United decision;
Whereas on February 1, 2011, Lois G. Lerner wrote that the ``Tea Party matter 
        [was] very dangerous,'' explaining ``This could be the vehicle to go to 
        court on the issue of whether Citizen's [sic] United overturning the ban 
        on corporate spending applies to tax exempt rules'';
Whereas Lois G. Lerner ordered the Tea Party tax-exempt applications to proceed 
        through a ``multi-tier review'' involving her senior technical advisor 
        and the Chief Counsel's office of the IRS;
Whereas Carter Hull, a 48-year veteran of the Federal Government, testified that 
        the ``multi-tier review'' was unprecedented in his experience;
Whereas on June 1, 2011, Holly Paz, Director of Rulings and Agreements within 
        the Exempt Organizations Division, requested the tax-exempt application 
        filed by Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies for review by Lois G. 
        Lerner's senior technical advisor;
Whereas in June 2011, Lois G. Lerner ordered the Tea Party cases to be renamed 
        because she viewed the term ``Tea Party'' to be ``pejorative'';
Whereas on March 22, 2012, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman was specifically 
        asked about the targeting of Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt 
        status during a hearing before the House Committee on Ways and Means, to 
        which he replied, ``I can give you assurances . . . [t]here is 
        absolutely no targeting.'';
Whereas on April 26, 2012, IRS Exempt Organizations Director Lois G. Lerner 
        informed the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that 
        information requests were done in ``the ordinary course of the 
        application process'';
Whereas on May 4, 2012, IRS Exempt Organizations Director Lois G. Lerner 
        provided to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
        specific justification for the IRS's information requests;
Whereas prior to the November 2012 election, the IRS provided 31 applications 
        for tax-exempt status to the investigative website ProPublica, all of 
        which were from conservative groups and nine of which had not yet been 
        approved by the IRS, and Federal law prohibits public disclosure of 
        application materials until after the application has been approved;
Whereas the initial ``test'' cases developed by the IRS were applications filed 
        by conservative-oriented Tea Party organizations;
Whereas the IRS determined, by way of informal, internal review, that 75 percent 
        of the affected applications for 501(c)(4) status were filed by 
        conservative-oriented organizations;
Whereas on January 24, 2013, Lois G. Lerner e-mailed colleagues about Organizing 
        for Action, a tax-exempt organization formed as an offshoot of President 
        Barack Obama's election campaign, writing: ``Maybe I can get the DC 
        office job!'';
Whereas on May 8, 2013, Richard Pilger, Director of the Election Crimes Branch 
        of the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section, spoke to Lois 
        G. Lerner about potential prosecution for false statements about 
        political campaign intervention made by tax-exempt applicants;
Whereas on May 10, 2013, IRS Exempt Organizations Director Lois G. Lerner 
        apologized for the IRS's targeting of conservative tax-exempt applicants 
        during a speech at an event organized by the American Bar Association;
Whereas the Ways and Means Committee determined that, of the 298 applications 
        delayed and set aside for extra scrutiny by the IRS, 83 percent were 
        from right-leaning organizations;
Whereas the Ways and Means Committee also determined that, as of Lois G. 
        Lerner's May 10, 2013 apology, only 45 percent of the right-leaning 
        groups set aside for extra scrutiny had been approved, while 70 percent 
        of left-leaning groups and 100 percent of the groups with 
        ``progressive'' names had been approved;
Whereas the Ways and Means Committee has also determined that, of the groups 
        that were inappropriately subject to demands to divulge confidential 
        donors, 89 percent were right-leaning;
Whereas on May 15, 2013, Attorney General Holder testified before the Judiciary 
        Committee that the Department of Justice would conduct a 
        ``dispassionate'' investigation into the IRS matter, and ``[t]his will 
        not be about parties . . . this will not be about ideological 
        persuasions . . . anybody who has broken the law will be held 
        accountable'';
Whereas on May 15, 2013, President Barack Obama called the IRS's targeting 
        ``inexcusable'' and promised that he would ``not tolerate this kind of 
        behavior in any agency, but especially in the IRS, given the power that 
        it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives'';
Whereas the Attorney General has stated that the Department of Justice's 
        investigation involves components from the Civil Rights Division and the 
        Public Integrity Section;
Whereas the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice has a history of 
        politicization, as evident in the report by the Department of Justice 
        Office of Inspector General entitled, ``A Review of the Operations of 
        the Voting Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division'';
Whereas Barbara Bosserman, a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division who in 
        the past several years has contributed nearly $7,000 to the Democratic 
        National Committee and President Barack Obama's political campaigns, is 
        playing a leading role in the Department of Justice's investigation;
Whereas the Public Integrity Section communicated with the IRS about the 
        potential prosecution of tax-exempt applicants;
Whereas on December 5, 2013, President Barack Obama declared in a national 
        television interview that the IRS's targeting of conservative tax-exempt 
        applicants was caused by a ``bureaucratic'' ``list'' by employees in 
        ``an office in Cincinnati'';
Whereas on April 9, 2014, the House Committee on Ways and Means referred Lois G. 
        Lerner to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution;
Whereas the House Committee on Ways and Means found that Lois G. Lerner used her 
        position to improperly influence agency action against conservative tax-
        exempt organizations, denying these groups due process and equal 
        protection rights as guaranteed by the United States Constitution, in 
        apparent violation of section 242 of title 18, United States Code;
Whereas the House Committee on Ways and Means found that Lois G. Lerner targeted 
        Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies while ignoring similar liberal-
        leaning tax-exempt applicants;
Whereas the House Committee on Ways and Means found that Lois G. Lerner impeded 
        official investigations by knowingly providing misleading statements to 
        the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, in apparent 
        violation of section 1001 of title 18, United States Code;
Whereas the House Committee on Ways and Means found that Lois G. Lerner may have 
        disclosed confidential taxpayer information, in apparent violation of 
        section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code;
Whereas former Department of Justice officials have testified before a 
        subcommittee of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 
        that the circumstances of the Administration's investigation of the 
        IRS's targeting of conservative tax-exempt applicants warrant the 
        appointment of a special counsel;
Whereas Department of Justice regulations counsel attorneys to avoid the 
        ``appearance of a conflict of interest likely to affect the public 
        perception of the integrity of the investigation or prosecution'';
Whereas since May 15, 2013, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of 
        Investigation have refused to cooperate with congressional oversight of 
        the Administration's investigation of the IRS's targeting of 
        conservative tax-exempt applicants;
Whereas on January 13, 2014, unnamed officials at the Department of Justice 
        leaked to the media that no criminal charges would be appropriate for 
        IRS officials who engaged in the targeting activity, which undermined 
        the integrity of the Department of Justice's investigation;
Whereas on February 2, 2014, President Barack Obama stated publicly that there 
        was ``not even a smidgen of corruption'' in connection with the IRS 
        targeting activity;
Whereas on April 16, 2014, electronic mail communications between the Department 
        of Justice and the IRS were released showing that the Department of 
        Justice considered prosecuting conservative nonprofit groups for 
        engaging in political activity that is legal under Federal law, which 
        damaged the integrity of the Department and undermined its 
        investigation; and
Whereas the Code of Federal Regulations requires the Attorney General to appoint 
        a Special Counsel when he or she determines--

    (1) that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted,

    (2) that investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a 
United States Attorney's Office or litigating Division of the Department of 
Justice would present a conflict of interest for the Department or other 
extraordinary circumstances, and

    (3) that under the circumstances, it would be in the public interest to 
appoint an outside Special Counsel to assume responsibility for the matter: 
Now, therefore, be it

    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the statements and actions of the IRS, the Department 
        of Justice, and the Obama Administration in connection with 
        this matter have served to undermine the Department of 
        Justice's investigation;
            (2) the Administration's efforts to undermine the 
        investigation, and the appointment of a person who has donated 
        almost seven thousand dollars to President Obama and the 
        Democratic National Committee in a lead investigative role, 
        have created a conflict of interest for the Department of 
        Justice that warrants removal of the investigation from the 
        normal processes of the Department of Justice;
            (3) further investigation of the matter is warranted due to 
        the apparent criminal activity by Lois G. Lerner, and the 
        ongoing disclosure of internal communications showing 
        potentially unlawful conduct by Executive Branch personnel;
            (4) given the Department's conflict of interest, as well as 
        the strong public interest in ensuring that public officials 
        who inappropriately targeted American citizens for exercising 
        their right to free expression are held accountable, 
        appointment of a Special Counsel would be in the public 
        interest; and
            (5) Attorney General Holder should appoint a Special 
        Counsel, without further delay, to investigate the IRS's 
        targeting of conservative nonprofit advocacy groups.
                                 <all>
Calling on Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., to appoint a special counsel to investigate the targeting of conservative nonprofit groups by the Internal Revenue Service.

Sponsors

Subjects

Summary

Full Text

Legislative Actions

Ask about this bill
