[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 114 (Thursday, July 14, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H4931-H4932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NOTICE OF INTENTION TO OFFER RESOLUTION RAISING A QUESTION OF THE 
                        PRIVILEGES OF THE HOUSE

  Mr. FLEMING. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX, I 
rise to give notice of my intention to raise a question of the 
privileges of the House.
  The form of the resolution is as follows:
  House Resolution 828. Impeaching John Andrew Koskinen, Commissioner 
of the Internal Revenue Service, for high crimes and misdemeanors.
  Resolved, that John Andrew Koskinen, Commissioner of the Internal 
Revenue Service, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors and that 
the following articles of impeachment be exhibited to the Senate:
  Articles of impeachment exhibited by the House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in the name of itself and of the people of 
the United States of America, against John Andrew Koskinen, 
Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, in maintenance and 
support of its impeachment against him for high crimes and 
misdemeanors.
  Article 1:
  John Andrew Koskinen, in his conduct while Commissioner of the 
Internal Revenue Service, engaged in a pattern of conduct that is 
incompatible with his duties as an officer of the United States, as 
follows:
  Commissioner Koskinen failed in his duty to respond to lawfully 
issued congressional subpoenas. On August 2, 2013, the Committee on 
Oversight and Government Reform of the House of Representatives issued 
a subpoena to the Secretary of the Treasury, Jacob Lew, the custodian 
of the Internal Revenue Service documents. That subpoena demanded, 
among other things, ``all communications sent or received by Lois 
Lerner from January 1, 2009, to August 2, 2013.''
  On February 14, 2014, following the Senate's confirmation of John 
Andrew Koskinen as Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, the 
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the House of 
Representatives reissued the subpoena to him.
  On March 4, 2014, Internal Revenue Service employees in Martinsburg, 
West Virginia, magnetically erased 422 backup tapes, destroying as many 
as 24,000 of Lois Lerner's emails responsive to the subpoena. This 
action impeded congressional investigations into the Internal Revenue 
Service targeting of Americans based on their political affiliation. 
The American people may never know the true culpability or extent of 
the Internal Revenue Service targeting because of the destruction of 
evidence that took place.
  Wherefore, John Andrew Koskinen, by such conduct, warrants 
impeachment and trial and removal from office.
  Article 2:
  John Andrew Koskinen engaged in a pattern of deception that 
demonstrates his unfitness to serve as Commissioner of the Internal 
Revenue Service. Commissioner Koskinen made a series of false and 
misleading statements to Congress in contravention of his oath to tell 
the truth. Those false statements included the following:
  Number 1, on June 20, 2014, Commissioner Koskinen testified that 
``since the start of this investigation, every email has been 
preserved. Nothing has been lost. Nothing has been destroyed.''
  Number 2, on June 23, 2014, Commissioner Koskinen testified that the 
Internal Revenue Service had ``confirmed that backup tapes from 2011 no 
longer existed because they have been recycled, pursuant to the 
Internal Revenue Service's normal policy.'' He went on to explain that 
``confirmed means that somebody went back and looked and made sure 
that, in fact, any backup tapes that had existed had been recycled.''
  Number 3, on March 26, 2014, Commissioner Koskinen was asked during a 
hearing before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform of the 
House of Representatives, ``Sir, are you or are you not going to 
provide this committee all of Lois Lerner's emails?'' He answered, 
``Yes, we will do that.''
  Each of those statements was materially false.
  On March 4, 2014, Internal Revenue Service employees magnetically 
erased 422 backup tapes containing as many as 24,000 of Lois Lerner's 
emails.
  On February 2, 2014, senior Internal Revenue Service officials 
discovered that Lois Lerner's computer hard drive had crashed, 
rendering hundreds or thousands of her emails unrecoverable. 
Commissioner Koskinen's false statements impeded and confused 
congressional investigations into the Internal Revenue Service 
targeting of Americans based on their political affiliation.
  Wherefore, John Andrew Koskinen, by such conduct, warrants 
impeachment and trial and removal from office.
  Article 3:
  John Andrew Koskinen, throughout his tenure as Commissioner of the 
Internal Revenue Service, has acted in a

[[Page H4932]]

manner inconsistent with the trust and confidence placed in him as an 
officer of the United States, as follows:
  During his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on 
Finance, John Andrew Koskinen promised, ``We will be transparent about 
any problems we run into; and the public and certainly this committee 
will know about those problems as soon as we do.''
  Commissioner Koskinen repeatedly violated that promise. As early as 
February 2014 and no later than April 2014, he was aware that a 
substantial portion of Lois Lerner's emails could not be produced to 
Congress. However, in a March 19, 2014, letter to Senator Wyden of the 
Senate Committee on Finance, Commissioner Koskinen said, ``We are 
transmitting today additional information that we believe completes our 
production to your committee and the House Ways and Means Committee. In 
light of those productions, I hope that the investigations can be 
concluded in the very near future.''
  At the time he sent that letter, he knew that the document production 
was not complete.
  Commissioner Koskinen did not notify Congress of any problem until 
June 13, 2014, when he included the information on the fifth page of 
the third enclosure of a letter to the Senate Committee on Finance.
  Wherefore, John Andrew Koskinen, by such conduct, warrants 
impeachment and trial and removal from office.
  Article 4:
  John Andrew Koskinen has failed to act with competence and 
forthrightness in overseeing the investigation into Internal Revenue 
Service targeting of Americans because of their political affiliations 
as follows:
  Commissioner Koskinen stated in a hearing on June 20, 2014, that the 
Internal Revenue Service had ``gone to great lengths'' to retrieve all 
of Lois Lerner's emails. Commissioner Koskinen's actions contradicted 
the assurances he gave to Congress.
  The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found over 
1,000 of Lois Lerner's emails that the Internal Revenue Service had 
failed to produce. Those discoveries took only 15 days of investigation 
to uncover. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration 
searched a number of available sources, including disaster backup 
tapes, Lois Lerner's BlackBerry, the email server, backup tapes for the 
email server, and Lois Lerner's temporary replacement laptop. The 
Internal Revenue Service failed to examine any of those sources in its 
own investigation.
  Wherefore, John Andrew Koskinen, by such conduct, warrants 
impeachment, trial, and removal from office.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Duncan of Tennessee). Under rule IX, a 
resolution offered from the floor by a Member other than the majority 
leader or the minority leader as a question of the privileges of the 
House has immediate precedence only at a time designated by the Chair 
within 2 legislative days after the resolution is properly noticed.
  Pending that designation, the form of the resolution noticed by the 
gentleman from Louisiana will appear in the Record at this point.
  The Chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution 
constitutes a question of privilege. That determination will be made at 
the time designated for consideration of the resolution.

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