IRS Agrees to Turn Over All Lois Lerner Emails

The IRS has agreed to give the House Ways and Means Committee all emails sent by Lois Lerner relating to the IRS targeting scandal, committee chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said Thursday.

The news was announced about a month after the Ways and Means Committee referred Lerner to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. That referral was based on findings that Lerner used her influence to delay tax-exempt status for conservative groups, impeded official investigations, and possibly disclosed confidential taxpayer information.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., said Thursday that the IRS has agreed to hand over all Lois Lerner emails. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

"While it is good that we are finally getting these emails, it should never have taken this long," Camp said in a statement.

"The agency is finally doing what is right and hopefully this is the last of the delays," he said. "It is almost a year to the day since Lois Lerner 'apologized' for the IRS's targeting of conservative groups, and we need to get to the bottom of this."

Camp said the emails would help the ongoing investigation and that the committee would follow up on the emails "wherever they lead."

A Ways and Means spokesperson said the IRS' decision to give the committee the emails would not affect the committee's criminal referral of Lerner to the Justice Department.

On Wednesday, the entire House voted that Lerner is in contempt of Congress for failing to testify on the targeting scandal.