Ron DeSantis Calls for Special Prosecutor on IRS Scandal

U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., continues to hit the Obama administration for its role when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeted conservative groups. On Thursday, DeSantis called for a special prosecutor to investigate the matter.

Yesterday, newly disclosed emails from former IRS Exempt Organizations head Lois Lerner revealed that Lerner and other IRS officials discussed with the Department of Justice the possibility of using criminal prosecutions against conservative groups targeted by Lerner and the IRS, DeSantis noted on Thursday. The idea to use criminal prosecutions to squelch dissent had been proposed at a Senate hearing by Rhode Island U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse in April 2013. Prior to that hearing, the released emails show that Lerner, alluding to conservative-leaning tax-exempt groups, sent an email to her IRS colleagues in which she alerted them to the fact that the hearing would focus on what she called the latest push to shut these down. One IRS prosecution would make an impact and they wouldnt feel so comfortable doing the stuff. IRS officials met with DOJ officials to discuss this possibility.

It is clear that the Department of Justice has a conflict of interest in the IRS matter, DeSantis continued. The DOJ has been conducting an investigation under the supervision of a major Obama donor since May 2013, yet no prosecutions have been commenced and the department has leaked word to media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal that no prosecutions will occur. The appointment of a special prosecutor is clearly in order.