New emails uncovered by the House Ways and Means Committee indicate that former IRS employee Lois Lerner has a strong dislike of some conservatives, and at one point called them "assholes" in an email exchange.
The committee released an email Lerner received in November 2012 complaining about the "whacko wing of the GOP." The person mocked conservatives for believing there are "too many foreigners sucking the teat" and that it is "time to hunker down, buy ammo and food, and prepare for the end." The person added that the "right wing radio shows are scary to listen to."
New emails released by House Republicans show former IRS employee Lois Lerner called conservatives "a**holes." (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File)
Lerner replied, "Great. Maybe we are through if there are that many assholes."
The other person then wrote, "And I'm talking about the hosts of the shows. The callers are rabid."
Lerner replied, "So we don't need to worry about alien terrorists. It's our own crazies that will take us down."
Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) said this exchange shows the has a "deep animus towards conservatives," which may have explained her efforts to target conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.
"This email shows that Ms. Lerner's mistreatment of conservative groups was driven by her personal hostility toward conservatives," Camp wrote in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder. "This new evidence clearly demonstrates why Ms. Lerner not only targeted conservatives, but denied such groups their rights to due process and equal protection under the law."
Camp's letter recounted that his committee has found that Lerner personally directed the IRS to audit Crossroads GPS, the group run by Karl Rove, and hinted at seeking a job with Organizing For Action, the group aimed at helping to re-elect President Barack Obama.
Camp said all of this evidence combined shows that a special counsel is needed to investigate the IRS and Lois Lerner, who has refused to testify before Congress by pleading the Fifth Amendment.
"While the Committee has not seen any evidence of a serious investigation by your department, it is my sincere hope that in light of this new, strong evidence that you immediately begin aggressively investigating this matter or appoint a special counsel," Camp wrote. "Failure to do so will only further erode public trust in not only the IRS, but the department as well."
While Republicans continue to push for a special counsel, the Department of Justice has not indicated it is willing to take that step.
Earlier Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing in which Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said that while officials have said they are investigating, there's little evidence of any action.
"[D]espite the administration's stated commitment to its 'investigation,' the facts and recent events have demonstrated repeatedly that the administration's real commitment is to slow-walk this investigation, and undermine congressional efforts to uncover the truth," he said.
"Earlier this year, unnamed Justice Department officials leaked information to the Wall Street Journal suggesting that the department does not plan to file criminal charges over the IRS's targeting of conservative groups," he added. "On Super Bowl Sunday, President Obama stated that there was 'not even a smidgen of corruption' in connection with the IRS's admitted targeting of conservative groups based upon their beliefs."
Read Camp's letter here:
