IRS chief makes his case to GOP lawmakers

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen on Wednesday made his case against impeachment to two groups of House Republicans.

Koskinen met with members of the moderate Tuesday Group as well as with members of the conservative Republican Study Committee, where some lawmakers support his impeachment.

“He just wanted to state his case,” said Tuesday group co-chair Charlie Dent (R-Pa.).

The argument to impeach Koskinen is that he did not comply with a subpoena and made false statements under oath while Congress was investigating the IRS’s scrutiny of conservative groups’ applications for tax-exempt status.

The controversy over the IRS’s actions took place before Koskinen became IRS Commissioner. 

In July, Reps. John Fleming (R-La.) and Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) introduced a “privileged” resolution to impeach Koskinen.

If they give notice, the House will have two legislative days to act on the bill. The House could vote to table the measure or refer it to committee instead of holding a vote on impeachment.

Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who has been cool to the impeachment talk, said Wednesday that the House Republican Conference will meet about the resolution next week, and members “are going to vote the way they want to vote on this.”

Dent said that Koskinen had asked to speak to the Tuesday Group and members accepted. Many members wanted to hear “from the man at the center of the issue,” he said.

During the meeting, Koskinen “said that he came into the position after all the targeting occurred,” Dent said.

He predicted the House will vote to refer the impeachment measure to committee, and that he supported the referring or tabling of the measure.

“There has to be some level of due process observed,” he said, adding that a floor vote without that “would set quite a precedent.”

The RSC meeting with Koskinen came after a member asked the group’s chairman, Bill Flores (R-Texas), if Koskinen could come to the group’s lunch. RSC members who were present at the time then voted to invite Koskinen, according to a senior GOP aide.

Nearly 40 RSC members met with Koskinen. There were a couple of pointed questions during the meeting but it was largely collegial, the aide said.

Cristina Marcos contributed reporting.