WASHINGTON – Today, upon reviewing a suspicious email exchange recently obtained by the House Ways and Means Committee between IRS and Federal Election Commission officials (including Lois Lerner who is at the center of the IRS’s political targeting controversy), Committee on House Administration Chairman Candice Miller, R-Mich., sent a letter to the FEC Chair Ellen Weintraub asking the Commission to produce all communications with the IRS dating back to 2008.

Emphasizing the need to know what, if any, role the FEC played in targeting groups based on political beliefs, Miller issued the following statement:

“The recent revelations that the IRS used its incredible power to selectively target certain groups for extra scrutiny based solely on their political beliefs has caused the American people to lose faith in the federal government.

“The emails obtained by the Ways and Means Committee showing a connection between Lois Lerner, who used the protections of the 5th Amendment to hide her actions in this scandal from public view, and FEC officials are troubling at best. As the Chairman of the committee responsible for FEC oversight, it is my duty to make certain Congress understands any role the FEC – which regulates political speech – may have played in targeting activities.

“The role of the FEC is to provide transparency for the American people about who is attempting to influence the political process and to provide that transparency with the highest standards of integrity. Any actions which may have occurred related to the improper and potentially illegal activities of the IRS deserve the same level of transparency.”

Yesterday, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and the Committee’s Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Charles Boustany, R-La., sent a similar request to IRS Principal Deputy Commissioner Daniel Werfel. Their letter and the email exchange can be read here.

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