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Conservative Chronicle
IRS: September 11, 2016
The IRS commissioner merits impeachment
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outrage, yet fails to enforce its constitu- myth.” This is particularly true now that Congress, inept at producing 12 approtional authority.” The Koskinen controversy, Turley priations bills, forfeits its leverage by said, “falls at the very crossroads of ex- funding the government indiscriminatepanding executive power, diminishing ly with omnibus bills and continuing congressional authority, and the rise of resolutions. So, Congress is left with the Fourth Branch,” which consists of impeachment as the only “functional “federal agencies that exercise increas- deterrence for executive overreach.” T h e Constitution authorizes ingly unilateral and independent powpeachment for “high ers.” As Turley noted (and as Hillary i m crimes and misdeClinton can ruemeanors.” Madifully attest), “prison favored this vate litigants like language and inJudicial Watch” terpreted it to inare nowadays (c) 2016, Washington Post Writers Group clude “maladminmore successful than Congress in prying information istration,” which surely encompasses from the executive branch. And (as the perjury and obstruction of Congress. Lerner case illustrates) “the administra- The idea that an IRS commissioner is tion has effectively foreclosed avenues not a high enough official for impeachlike the referral of criminal contempt ment ignores, Turley says, “the realities and other sanctions that should be im- of the modern regulatory state.” Composed for providing misleading state- missioners have authority over 90,000 employees collecting $2.5 trillion in ments to Congress.” revenues annually. Andrew C. McCarthy, former federal AS A MEANS of controlling the executive, the power of the purse “has prosecutor and Justice Department ofHERE ARE A few pertinent facts. become something of a constitutional ficial, reminded the Judiciary CommitAt the IRS, Exempt Organizations Director Lois Lerner participated in delaySEXUAL ASSAULT LAWS: September 8, 2016 ing for up to five years — effectively denying — tax-exempt status for, and hence suppressing political advocacy by, conservative groups. She retired after refusing to testify to congressional hen horrific and ugly offender, which he did Tuesday after he committees, invoking the Fifth Amendcrimes make headlines, returned to Ohio. While critics say Perment’s protection against self-incrimipoliticians like to seize sky went easy on Turner because he was nation. Koskinen, who became commission- the opportunity — to make their own a white Stanford student, Turner in fact er after Lerner left, failed to disclose the headlines. So when Superior Court will be serving a life sentence as a regdisappearance of emails germane to a Judge Aaron Persky sentenced former istered sex offender. He not only won’t congressional investigation of IRS mis- Stanford student Brock Turner, now 21, be able to work in a public school, but behavior. Under his leadership, the IRS to six months in jail — he served only also will not be able to get a commerfailed to comply with a preservation three months — for sexually assault- cial driver’s license or even order pertaining to an investigation. He ing a woman who was too inebriated to sell insurdid not testify accurately or keep prom- consent to sex in 2015, California lawises made to Congress. Subpoenaed makers did not hesitate. The same Calidocuments, including 422 tapes poten- fornia legislature that just passed the tially containing 24,000 Lerner emails, Restorative Justice Act, which touted (c) 2016, Creators Syndicate were destroyed. He falsely testified that alternatives to incarceration, shamethe Government Accountability Of- lessly passed two tough-on-crime laws. ance. When convicted killers get out fice’s report on IRS practices found “no Both are now on the governor’s desk. of prison, they face fewer restrictions examples of anyone who was impropAS GOV. Jerry Brown considers than many convicted sex offenders like erly selected for an audit.” In June testimony to the House Ju- whether to sign the bills, he should look Turner. diciary Committee, Jonathan Turley of to Minnesota. In 1989, a masked strang“FEW NEW public policies have the George Washington University Law er with a gun accosted three young School noted that the Obama adminis- boys riding their bikes on a fall night. become so widespread so quickly or attration stands accused of “effectively The man ordered two of the boys to run tracted such unanimous support from weaponizing the IRS.” And the Koski- away, then handcuffed Jacob Wetter- across the political spectrum,” Eli Lehnen controversy comes as Congress ling, 11,who was never seen again. This rer of the libertarian-leaning R Street “is facing an unprecedented erosion week, Danny Heinrich, 53, admitted Institute wrote in National Affairs. of its authority vis-a-vis the executive that he sexually assaulted, then killed Lehrer believes states should cull their branch.” The “increasing obstruction Wetterling, as he pleaded guilty to a fed- registries by, for example, eliminating and contempt displayed by federal agen- eral child pornography charge for which most juvenile offenders. Better to focus on predators most likely to re-offend. cies in congressional investigations re- he will serve at least 20 years. Wetterling’s disappearance spawned Lehrer also argued “blanket residency flects the loss of any credible threat of congressional action. Congress has be- the 1994 national sex offender registry, restrictions” — such as California’s recome a paper tiger within our tripartite advocated by Jacob’s mother, Patty, and strictions on living near schools or day system — a branch that often expresses signed by President Bill Clinton. The care centers — “simply do not serve any law compels Turner to register as a sex valid public-safety purpose.” epublican congressional leaders ardently want conservative members of the House to not force a vote on impeaching the IRS commissioner. The public does not care about John Koskinen’s many misdeeds. And impeachment will distract attention from issues that interest the public. And because Democrats are not ingrates, the required two-thirds of the Senate will never vote to convict Koskinen, whose behavior continues the pattern of doing what Democrats desire with the most intrusive and potentially punitive government agency. These Republican leaders’ reasons are cumulatively unpersuasive. Resuscitating the impeachment power would contribute to revitalizing Congress’ Article I powers. Impeachments are rare — no appointed official of the executive branch has been impeached in 140 years. But what James Madison called the “indispensable” power to impeach should not be allowed to atrophy, as has Congress’ power to declare war.
George
Will
tee that “the point of the Constitution’s vesting of all executive power in a single official, the president, is precisely to make the president accountable for all executive branch conduct.” And impeachment of a subordinate official, far from being a radical remedy, is much less drastic than impeaching the president or defunding the official’s agency. ONE OF THE articles of impeachment filed by the House against Richard Nixon was that he, “acting personally and through his subordinates “ (emphasis added), had “endeavored” to use the IRS to violate Americans’ rights, causing IRS actions “to be initiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.” If presidents are, as McCarthy says, “derivatively responsible” for misconduct by executive branch subordinates, surely those officials are responsible for their own misconduct and that of underlings. Refusing to impeach Koskinen would continue the passivity by which members of Congress have become, in Turley’s words, “agents of their own obsolescence.”
Big headlines make for really bad laws
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Debra J.
Saunders
Patty Wetterling herself has come to question the registries’ scope. In 2013, she told City Pages, “We’ve cast such a broad net that we’re catching a lot of juveniles who did something stupid or different types of offenders who just screwed up. Should they never be given a chance to turn their lives around?” “Hard cases make bad law,” the saying goes. As if to prove that point, the legislature overwhelmingly approved AB2888, which would set a minimum three years in prison for convicted rapists. Yes, a three-year minimum seems reasonable, but I have doubts given how readily campus rape cases turn into political footballs. (Turner tried that game himself when he blamed Stanford’s party culture for his criminal behavior.) AB701 stipulates that all forms of nonconsensual sex be considered rape. Prosecutors had charged Turner with sexual assault because he digitally penetrated the victim before two passersby intervened. I appreciate the rage behind the bill, but I also want men to know that there are harsher penalties if they rape a woman (or a man) with their penises. IT’S GOOD when victims’ advocates try to tweak the law to disincentivize brutal crimes. As it is, Patty Wetterling already took care of Turner. These Sacramento bills can achieve only one goal — headline-grabbing.