Last month the IRS informed the House Ways and Means Committee that the files of Lois Lerner dated January 2009 to April 2011 were considered lost due to a supposed computer crash, casting doubt on the investigation’s success.
Then, just when we thought the case against Lerner would be stalled, a series of seemingly innocuous e-mails from her turned up in a recent weekend data dump.
In a recently released e-mail chain, Lois Lerner revealed her concern over e-mails that Congress might find in the case against her. (worldmag.com photo)
”I was cautioning folks about email and how we have had several occasions where Congress has asked for emails and there has been an electronic search for responsive emails – so we need to be cautious about what we say in emails,” wrote Lerner in an April 9, 2013 e-mail to Maria Hooke. “Someone asked if OCS* conversations were also searchable – I don’t know, but told them I would get back to them. Do you know?”
“OCS messages are not set to automatically save as the standard,” Hooke responded, “To date OCS conversations are not specifically identified as part of the Electronic Data Request for information …” Hooke then offered Lerner her general recommendation “to treat the conversation as if it could/is being saved somewhere, as it is possible for either party of the conversation to retain the information and have it turn up as part of an electronic search. Make sense?”
To which, Lerner simply responded, “Perfect.”
It was obvious that Lerner had some anxiety over e-mail traffic as these e-mails were written just two weeks after the IRS Inspector General’s draft report was circulated.
Just one month later, May 10, 2013, during a telephone conference with American Bar Association members, Lerner thought she could quietly pass the targeting of conservative organizations off on a few Rogue agents in the Cincinnati Office. That was later proven to be false.
Illustration courtesy Dana Summers, Tribune Content Agency
Lastly, regarding the supposed computer crash; two judges, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan and federal judge Reggie B. Walton, in separate cases, have ordered the IRS to provide sworn statements detailing what happened to Lerner’s hard drive. While Sullivan gave the IRS 30-days to respond, Walton ordered the IRS’ response in one week.
Stay tuned.
*Microsoft Office Communications Server
