,,iv #aacth ,,congress #b;d ,session ,h4 ,,res4 #efe ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of ,,representatives ,may #b1 #bjad ,mr4 ,jordan 7for himself1 ,mr4 ,boustany1 ,mr4 ,goodlatte1 ,mr4 ,camp1 ,mr4 ,issa1 ,mr4 ,sensenbrenner1 ,mr4 ,chaffetz1 and ,mr4 ,gowdy7 submitted the following resolution2 which was referred to the ,committee on the ,judiciary ,,resolution ,calling on ,attorney ,general ,eric ,h4 ,holder1 ,jr41 to appoint a special counsel to investigate the targeting of conservative nonprofit groups by the ,internal ,revenue ,service4 ,whereas in ,february of #bjaj1 the ,internal ,revenue ,service 7,,irs7 began targeting conservative nonprofit groups for extra scrutiny in connection with applications for tax-exempt status2 ,whereas on ,may #ad1 #bjac1 the ,treasury ,inspector ,general for ,tax ,administration 7,,tigta7 issued an audit report entitled1 ,inappropriate ,criteria ,were ,used to ,identify ,tax-,exempt ,applications for ,review2 ,whereas the ,,tigta audit report found that from #bjaj until #bjab the ,,irs systematically subjected tax-exempt applicants to extra scrutiny based on inappropriate criteria1 including use of the phrases ,tea ,party1 ,patriots1 and #i_/ab2 ,whereas the ,,tigta audit report found that the groups selected for extra scrutiny based on inappropriate criteria were subjected to years-long delay without cause2 ,whereas the ,,tigta audit report found that the groups selected for extra scrutiny based on inappropriate criteria were subjected to inappropriate and burdensome information requests1 including requests for information about donors and political beliefs2 ,whereas on ,january #bg1 #bjaj1 in his ,state of the ,union ,address1 ,president ,barack ,obama criticized the ,citizens ,united v4 ,federal ,election ,commission decision1 saying3 ,with all due deference to separation of powers1 last week the ,supreme ,court reversed a century of law that ,i believe will open the floodgates for special interests--including foreign corporations--to spend without limit in our elections2 ,whereas throughout #bjaj1 ,president ,barack ,obama and congressional ,democrats publicly criticized the ,citizens ,united decision and conservative-oriented tax-exempt organizations2 ,whereas the ,exempt ,organizations ,division within the ,,irs's ,tax-,exempt and ,government ,entities ,division has jurisdiction over the processing and determination of tax-exempt applications2 ,whereas on ,september #ae1 #bjaj1 ,lois ,g4 ,lerner1 ,director of the ,exempt ,organizations ,division1 initiated a project to examine political activity of #eja7;c77#d7 organizations1 writing to her colleagues1 we need to be cautious so it isn't a per se political project2 ,whereas on ,october #ai1 #bjaj1 ,lois ,g4 ,lerner told an audience at ,duke ,university's ,sanford ,school of ,public ,policy that everybody is screaming at the ,,irs to fix the problem posed by the ,citizens ,united decision2 ,whereas on ,february #a1 #bjaa1 ,lois ,g4 ,lerner wrote that the ,tea ,party matter was very dangerous1 explaining ,this could be the vehicle to go to court on the issue of whether ,citizen's sic ,united overturning the ban on corporate spending applies to tax exempt rules2 ,whereas ,lois ,g4 ,lerner ordered the ,tea ,party tax-exempt applications to proceed through a multi-tier review involving her senior technical advisor and the ,chief ,counsel's office of the ,,irs2 ,whereas ,carter ,hull1 a #dh-year veteran of the ,federal ,government1 testified that the multi-tier review was unprecedented in his experience2 ,whereas on ,june #a1 #bjaa1 ,holly ,paz1 ,director of ,rulings and ,agreements within the ,exempt ,organizations ,division1 requested the tax-exempt application filed by ,crossroads ,grassroots ,policy ,strategies for review by ,lois ,g4 ,lerner's senior technical advisor2 ,whereas in ,june #bjaa1 ,lois ,g4 ,lerner ordered the ,tea ,party cases to be renamed because she viewed the term ,tea ,party to be pejorative2 ,whereas on ,march #bb1 #bjab1 ,,irs ,commissioner ,douglas ,shulman was specifically asked about the targeting of ,tea ,party groups applying for tax-exempt status during a hearing before the ,house ,committee on ,ways and ,means1 to which he replied1 ,i can give you assurances ''' there is absolutely no targeting42 ,whereas on ,april #bf1 #bjab1 ,,irs ,exempt ,organizations ,director ,lois ,g4 ,lerner informed the ,house ,committee on ,oversight and ,government ,reform that information requests were done in the ordinary course of the application process2 ,whereas on ,may #d1 #bjab1 ,,irs ,exempt ,organizations ,director ,lois ,g4 ,lerner provided to the ,house ,committee on ,oversight and ,government ,reform specific justification for the ,,irs's information requests2 ,whereas prior to the ,november #bjab election1 the ,,irs provided #ca applications for tax-exempt status to the investigative website ,pro,publica1 all of which were from conservative groups and nine of which had not yet been approved by the ,,irs1 and ,federal law prohibits public disclosure of application materials until after the application has been approved2 ,whereas the initial test cases developed by the ,,irs were applications filed by conservative-oriented ,tea ,party organizations2 ,whereas the ,,irs determined1 by way of informal1 internal review1 that #ge percent of the affected applications for #eja7;c77#d7 status were filed by conservative-oriented organizations2 ,whereas on ,january #bd1 #bjac1 ,lois ,g4 ,lerner e-mailed colleagues about ,organizing for ,action1 a tax-exempt organization formed as an offshoot of ,president ,barack ,obama's election campaign1 writing3 ,maybe ,i can get the ,,dc office job62 ,whereas on ,may #h1 #bjac1 ,richard ,pilger1 ,director of the ,election ,crimes ,branch of the ,department of ,justice's ,public ,integrity ,section1 spoke to ,lois ,g4 ,lerner about potential prosecution for false statements about political campaign intervention made by tax-exempt applicants2 ,whereas on ,may #aj1 #bjac1 ,,irs ,exempt ,organizations ,director ,lois ,g4 ,lerner apologized for the ,,irs's targeting of conservative tax-exempt applicants during a speech at an event organized by the ,american ,bar ,association2 ,whereas the ,ways and ,means ,committee determined that1 of the #bih applications delayed and set aside for extra scrutiny by the ,,irs1 #hc percent were from right-leaning organizations2 ,whereas the ,ways and ,means ,committee also determined that1 as of ,lois ,g4 ,lerner's ,may #aj1 #bjac apology1 only #de percent of the right-leaning groups set aside for extra scrutiny had been approved1 while #gj percent of left-leaning groups and #ajj percent of the groups with progressive names had been approved2 ,whereas the ,ways and ,means ,committee has also determined that1 of the groups that were inappropriately subject to demands to divulge confidential donors1 #hi percent were right-leaning2 ,whereas on ,may #ae1 #bjac1 ,attorney ,general ,holder testified before the ,judiciary ,committee that the ,department of ,justice would conduct a dispassionate investigation into the ,,irs matter1 and this will not be about parties ''' this will not be about ideological persuasions ''' anybody who has broken the law will be held accountable2 ,whereas on ,may #ae1 #bjac1 ,president ,barack ,obama called the ,,irs's targeting inexcusable and promised that he would not tolerate this kind of behavior in any agency1 but especially in the ,,irs1 given the power that it has and the reach that it has into all of our lives2 ,whereas the ,attorney ,general has stated that the ,department of ,justice's investigation involves components from the ,civil ,rights ,division and the ,public ,integrity ,section2 ,whereas the ,civil ,rights ,division of the ,department of ,justice has a history of politicization1 as evident in the report by the ,department of ,justice ,office of ,inspector ,general entitled1 ,a ,review of the ,operations of the ,voting ,rights ,section of the ,civil ,rights ,division2 ,whereas ,barbara ,bosserman1 a trial attorney in the ,civil ,rights ,division who in the past several years has contributed nearly #g1jjj to the ,democratic ,national ,committee and ,president ,barack ,obama's political campaigns1 is playing a leading role in the ,department of ,justice's investigation2 ,whereas the ,public ,integrity ,section communicated with the ,,irs about the potential prosecution of tax-exempt applicants2 ,whereas on ,december #e1 #bjac1 ,president ,barack ,obama declared in a national television interview that the ,,irs's targeting of conservative tax-exempt applicants was caused by a bureaucratic list by employees in an office in ,cincinnati2 ,whereas on ,april #i1 #bjad1 the ,house ,committee on ,ways and ,means referred ,lois ,g4 ,lerner to the ,department of ,justice for criminal prosecution2 ,whereas the ,house ,committee on ,ways and ,means found that ,lois ,g4 ,lerner used her position to improperly influence agency action against conservative tax-exempt organizations1 denying these groups due process and equal protection rights as guaranteed by the ,united ,states ,constitution1 in apparent violation of section #bdb of title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code2 ,whereas the ,house ,committee on ,ways and ,means found that ,lois ,g4 ,lerner targeted ,crossroads ,grassroots ,policy ,strategies while ignoring similar liberal-leaning tax-exempt applicants2 ,whereas the ,house ,committee on ,ways and ,means found that ,lois ,g4 ,lerner impeded official investigations by knowingly providing misleading statements to the ,treasury ,inspector ,general for ,tax ,administration1 in apparent violation of section #ajja of title #ah1 ,united ,states ,code2 ,whereas the ,house ,committee on ,ways and ,means found that ,lois ,g4 ,lerner may have disclosed confidential taxpayer information1 in apparent violation of section #fajc of the ,internal ,revenue ,code2 ,whereas former ,department of ,justice officials have testified before a subcommittee of the ,house ,committee on ,oversight and ,government ,reform that the circumstances of the ,administration's investigation of the ,,irs's targeting of conservative tax-exempt applicants warrant the appointment of a special counsel2 ,whereas ,department of ,justice regulations counsel attorneys to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest likely to affect the public perception of the integrity of the investigation or prosecution2 ,whereas since ,may #ae1 #bjac1 the ,department of ,justice and the ,federal ,bureau of ,investigation have refused to cooperate with congressional oversight of the ,administration's investigation of the ,,irs's targeting of conservative tax-exempt applicants2 ,whereas on ,january #ac1 #bjad1 unnamed officials at the ,department of ,justice leaked to the media that no criminal charges would be appropriate for ,,irs officials who engaged in the targeting activity1 which undermined the integrity of the ,department of ,justice's investigation2 ,whereas on ,february #b1 #bjad1 ,president ,barack ,obama stated publicly that there was not even a smidgen of corruption in connection with the ,,irs targeting activity2 ,whereas on ,april #af1 #bjad1 electronic mail communications between the ,department of ,justice and the ,,irs were released showing that the ,department of ,justice considered prosecuting conservative nonprofit groups for engaging in political activity that is legal under ,federal law1 which damaged the integrity of the ,department and undermined its investigation2 and ,whereas the ,code of ,federal ,regulations requires the ,attorney ,general to appoint a ,special ,counsel when he or she determines-- 7#a7 that criminal investigation of a person or matter is warranted1 7#b7 that investigation or prosecution of that person or matter by a ,united ,states ,attorney's ,office or litigating ,division of the ,department of ,justice would present a conflict of interest for the ,department or other extraordinary circumstances1 and 7#c7 that under the circumstances1 it would be in the public interest to appoint an outside ,special ,counsel to assume responsibility for the matter3 ,now1 therefore1 be it ,that it is the sense of the ,house of ,representatives that-- 7#a7 the statements and actions of the ,,irs1 the ,department of ,justice1 and the ,obama ,administration in connection with this matter have served to undermine the ,department of ,justice's investigation2 7#b7 the ,administration's efforts to undermine the investigation1 and the appointment of a person who has donated almost seven thousand dollars to ,president ,obama and the ,democratic ,national ,committee in a lead investigative role1 have created a conflict of interest for the ,department of ,justice that warrants removal of the investigation from the normal processes of the ,department of ,justice2 7#c7 further investigation of the matter is warranted due to the apparent criminal activity by ,lois ,g4 ,lerner1 and the ongoing disclosure of internal communications showing potentially unlawful conduct by ,executive ,branch personnel2 7#d7 given the ,department's conflict of interest1 as well as the strong public interest in ensuring that public officials who inappropriately targeted ,american citizens for exercising their right to free expression are held accountable1 appointment of a ,special ,counsel would be in the public interest2 and 7#e7 ,attorney ,general ,holder should appoint a ,special ,counsel1 without further delay1 to investigate the ,,irs's targeting of conservative nonprofit advocacy groups4