House Oversight and Government Committee Republicans are upset that the Justice Department handed the investigation of IRS targeting of conservatives off to an Obama donor.
Barbara Bosserman, an attorney now leading the DOJ/FBI investigation of the IRS’ activities, has donated at least $6,750 to President Obama’s election campaigns and the Democratic National Committee in the past several years.
Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told Attorney General Eric Holder in a letter today that “several current and former IRS officials” indicated Bosserman, a trial attorney in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, was put at the helm of the investigation.
Bosserman’s donations include $2,500 to Obama for America and the Obama Victory Fund in 2012 alone.
“By selecting a significant donor to President Obama to lead an investigation into inappropriate targeting of conservative groups, the Department has created a startling conflict of interest,” Issa and Jordan write.
“It is unbelievable that the Department would choose such an individual to examine the federal government’s systematic targeting and harassment of organizations opposed to the President’s policies,” the letter continues. “At the very least, Ms. Bosserman’s involvement is highly inappropriate and has compromised the Administration’s investigation of the IRS.”
They ask Holder to remove Bosserman from the investigation, provide a detail accounting of how she came to be assigned to the case, and assess whether the investigation thus far has been tainted by bias.
“In addition, please inform the Committee as to the steps the Department intends to take to remedy the damage created by Ms. Bosserman’s leadership of and participation in the investigation,” Issa and Jordan add.
The congressmen request information from Holder no later than Jan. 22.
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