IRS Chief Tells Lawmakers: ‘We Will Uncover Everything’

Seal of the United States Internal Revenue Service. The design is the same as the Treasury seal with an IRS inscription. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WASHINGTON — The new head of the Internal Revenue Service acknowledged that the embattled agency “undermined the public’s trust” when employees singled out conservative political groups seeking tax-exempt status for extra scrutiny, and he pledged full cooperation with lawmakers in pursuing reforms.

In his first public testimony since taking over at the IRS in mid-May, acting Commissioner Daniel Werfel called actions by employees “completely inexcusable and inherently damaging” to the agency, blaming what he called “a fundamental failure by IRS management” to prevent it.  He said he would hold accountable any employees responsible for misdeeds, promising at one point, “We will uncover everything.”

“This important agency is founded on a principle of operating impartially.  And we failed in that most basic core principle here, and it’s devastating to us as an agency and to the people in that agency,” he said.

Previous IRS officials who have testified gave much less definitive answers to such questions.  Werfel has the advantage of having not been at the agency when the problems occurred.  As a result, the tenor of Monday’s hearing contrasted with other sessions in which members often sparred with invited witnesses.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/la-na-irs-hearings-20130604,0,3733316.story