Issa to subpoena Treasury Secretary Lew over tea party targeting

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell E. Issa has subpoenaed Treasury Secretary Jack Lew for documents and communications related to the IRS tea party targeting scandal.

“Secretary Lew is responsible for providing all pertinent documents Treasury has in its possession, both within and outside the IRS,” said Mr. Issa, California Republican. “The committee is aware of responsive documents in Treasury’s possession that have not been produced to the committee.”  

The department has responded with “almost no internal communications about the substance” in regards to the investigation, the committee said in a statement issued Friday. The committee previously subpoenaed Mr. Lew on Aug. 2 for documents related to the targeting.

The subpoena seeks the following:

All documents and communications to or from any employee of the U.S. Department of the Treasury referring or relating to Internal Revenue Service processes, procedures, or criteria for evaluating applications for tax exempt status.

All documents and communications referring or relating to a June 4, 2012 briefing delivered by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to General Counsel Christopher Meade.

All documents and communications referring or relating to the disclosure, potential disclosure, or any plan to disclose the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration’s audit 2013-10-53, entitled, Inappropriate Criteria Were Used to Identify Tax-Exempt Applications for Review.

All documents and communications to or from any employee of the U.S. Department of the Treasury referring or relating to congressional requests for information about the process for reviewing applications for tax-exempt status.

All documents and communications to or from any employee of the U.S. Department of the Treasury referring or relating to the drafting, review, editing, or approval of testimony given to Congress by any employee of the U.S. Department of the Treasury about matters related to the IRS, including, but not limited to, communications between and among employees of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and employees of the Office of Management and Budget.