Chaffetz, Jordan Letter to IRS Commissioner Regarding Destroyed Documents

WASHINGTON—Today, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Health Care, Benefits, and Administrative Rules Subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent a letter to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen after learning the IRS destroyed documents covered by a federal district court’s preservation order. The preservation order was issued in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Microsoft relating to the potentially wasteful hiring of an outside law firm by the IRS to assist in auditing Microsoft. 

Key excerpts from the letter:

“The destruction of evidence subject to preservation orders and subpoenas has been an ongoing problem under your leadership at the IRS. …

 “It is stunning to see that the IRS still does not take reasonable care to preserve documents that it is legally required to protect. …

 “It is now apparent that the IRS has not solved the management problems that have led once again to the destruction of documents in contravention of its legal obligations.”

The letter requests documents from the IRS so that the Committee can better understand the IRS’s policies pertaining to document retention. The deadline for materials is Tuesday, January 27, 2016.