39–008 

113TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2d Session 113–545 

DIRECTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO TRANSMIT TO THE HOUSE OF 

REPRESENTATIVES COPIES OF ANY EMAILS IN THE POSSESSION OF THE 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE THAT WERE TRANSMITTED TO OR FROM THE 

EMAIL ACCOUNT(S) OF FORMER INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE EXEMPT 

ORGANIZATIONS DIVISION DIRECTOR LOIS LERNER BETWEEN JANUARY 

2009 AND APRIL 2011 

JULY 22, 2014.—Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed 

Mr. GOODLATTE, from the Committee on the Judiciary, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H. Res. 646] 

The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the resolution (H. Res. 646) directing the Attorney General to transmit to 

the House of Representatives copies of any emails in the possession 

of the Department of Justice that were transmitted to or from the 

email account(s) of former Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner between January 2009 and 

April 2011, having considered the same, report without amendment 

and without recommendation. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Purpose and Summary ............................................................................................ 1 

Background and Need for the Legislation ............................................................. 2 

Hearings ................................................................................................................... 3 

Committee Consideration ........................................................................................ 3 

Committee Votes ...................................................................................................... 3 

Committee Oversight Findings ............................................................................... 3 

Duplication of Federal Programs ............................................................................ 3 

Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings ..................................................................... 3 

Performance Goals and Objectives ......................................................................... 3 

Advisory on Earmarks ............................................................................................. 4 

Section-by-Section Analysis .................................................................................... 4 

Purpose and Summary 

H. Res. 646 directs the Attorney General to transmit to the 

House of Representatives copies of any emails in the possession of 

the Department of Justice that were transmitted to or from the 

email account(s) of former Internal Revenue Service Exempt OrgaVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:30 Jul 23, 2014 Jkt 039008 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6601 E:\HR\OC\HR545.XXX HR545

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nizations Division Director Lois Lerner between January 2009 and 

April 2011. 

Background and Need for the Legislation 

On May 10, 2013, former IRS Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner admitted, during an American Bar Association 

meeting, that some organizations seeking tax-exempt status under 

section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code were targeted for 

additional scrutiny by the IRS. Groups targeted for this additional 

scrutiny included those with names that included certain political 

terms like ‘‘Tea Party,’’ ‘‘Patriots,’’ or ‘‘Progressive.’’ Several Congressional Committees, including the Committee on Ways and 

Means and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, 

opened investigations into this matter. 

On May 15, 2013, Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr., testified 

before the Judiciary Committee that the Justice Department would 

conduct a ‘‘dispassionate’’ investigation into the IRS’s admittedly 

inappropriate treatment of certain groups, and that the Department would ‘‘go wherever the facts lead us.’’ 

On June 11, 2014, FBI Director James Comey testified before the 

Judiciary Committee. In response to questions from Chairman 

Goodlatte, Director Comey indicated that the FBI is currently conducting ‘‘a very active investigation’’ of the IRS targeting matter. 

The Director stated that ‘‘There is an investigation because there 

was a reasonable basis to believe that crimes had been committed 

. . . so, we are conducting that investigation.’’ 

The Committee investigations, as well as a lawsuit by the organization Judicial Watch, led to the revelation of emails between Lois 

Lerner and the Justice Department’s Election Crimes branch. The 

emails show that the IRS in October 2010 sent 1.1 million pages 

of nonprofit tax-return data—including confidential taxpayer information—to the FBI, potentially in violation of Federal law. In April 

2014, emails were revealed showing that Ms. Lerner was in contact 

with the Justice Department in May 2013 about whether tax-exempt groups could be criminally prosecuted for ‘‘lying’’ about political activity. Congressional investigators then sought any additional emails in possession of the IRS pertaining to the contact between Ms. Lerner and the Justice Department. 

On June 13, 2014, the IRS told investigators that it lost an untold number of Lois Lerner’s emails dated from January 1, 2009 to 

April 2011. While Congressional investigators were in possession of 

some Lerner emails from this time period, those only include 

emails written to or from other IRS employees. Any emails written 

to or from Lerner with people outside the IRS, including personnel 

at the Department of Justice, were, according to the IRS, lost in 

the 2011 hard drive crash. The IRS provided Congress with contemporaneous emails showing that Lerner sought assistance from 

IT employees—including forensic lab technicians—but that her 

data was unrecoverable. 

On May 7, 2014, the House passed H. Res. 565, a resolution calling upon the Attorney General to appoint a Special Counsel to investigate the IRS’s targeting of certain groups. 

On June 25, 2014, Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX) introduced H. Res. 646, which directs the Attorney General to transmit 

to the House of Representatives copies of any emails in the possesVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:30 Jul 23, 2014 Jkt 039008 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6601 E:\HR\OC\HR545.XXX HR545

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sion of the Department of Justice that were transmitted to or from 

the email account(s) of former Internal Revenue Service Exempt 

Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner between January 2009 

and April 2011. 

Hearings 

The Committee on the Judiciary held no hearings on H. Res. 646. 

Committee Consideration 

On July 16, 2014, the Committee met in open session and ordered the resolution H. Res. 646 reported without recommendation 

and without amendment, by voice vote, a quorum being present. 

Committee Votes 

In compliance with clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee advises that there were 

no recorded votes during the Committee’s consideration of H. Res. 

646. 

Committee Oversight Findings 

In compliance with clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee advises that the findings 

and recommendations of the Committee, based on oversight activities under clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the Rules of the House of Representatives, are incorporated in the descriptive portions of this report. 

Duplication of Federal Programs 

No provision of H. Res. 646 establishes or reauthorizes a program of the Federal Government known to be duplicative of another Federal program, a program that was included in any report 

from the Government Accountability Office to Congress pursuant to 

section 21 of Public Law No. 111–139, or a program related to a 

program identified in the most recent Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance. 

Disclosure of Directed Rule Makings 

The Committee estimates that H. Res. 646 specifically directs to 

be completed no specific rule makings within the meaning of 5 

U.S.C. § 551. 

Performance Goals and Objectives 

The Committee states that pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, H. Res. 646 directs 

the Attorney General to transmit to the House of Representatives 

copies of any emails in the possession of the Department of Justice 

that were transmitted to or from the email account(s) of former Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organizations Division Director 

Lois Lerner between January 2009 and April 2011. 


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Advisory on Earmarks 

In accordance with clause 9 of rule XXI of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, H. Res. 646 does not contain any congressional 

earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined 

in clause 9(e), 9(f), or 9(g) of Rule XXI. 

Section-by-Section Analysis 

The following discussion describes the resolution as reported by 

the Committee. 

H. Res. 646 directs the Attorney General to transmit to the 

House of Representatives copies of any emails in the possession of 

the Department of Justice that were transmitted to or from the 

email account(s) of former Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner between January 2009 and 

April 2011. 

Æ 


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