They accuse him of holding up their investigation of the IRS targeting Tea Party groups.

The House Freedom Caucus submitted a resolution to force a vote to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. They have accused him of hampering, “Congress’ effort to investigate the IRS for tough assessments of Tea Party groups that sought tax exemptions several years ago.”

Caucus members Members claim Koskinen failed to provide proper email documents and lied about deleting some emails. They also claim he has shown, “little effort to recover the lost documents.”

To speed up the vote, Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) introduced the bill, “under a privileged motion,” allowing the bill to bypass committee. The House could vote on the bill as early as Thursday.

Roll Call reported:

Fleming said Koskinen had made a “series of false and misleading statements” to House investigators and failed to fully cooperate with their requests for emails and other information related to a probe of the IRS’ handling of applications from conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. Fleming, who is running for the Senate, said Koskinen’s statements and actions “warrant impeachment, trial and removal from office.”

He drafted the resolution in July “after the Judiciary Committee held two hearings to examine Koskinen’s alleged misconduct.” The Hill reported that Freedom Caucus members will give speeches on the floor on Tuesday evening to make their case.

However, they are not only trying to persuade the Democrats. House GOP members have not embraced the resolution:

Impeaching Koskinen is an issue that has divided House Republicans. Several congressional Republicans have said that they would vote against impeachment because the resolution has not followed the normal process, which would involve an extensive review by the Judiciary Committee.

Other Republicans have explained, “that an impeachment vote two months before elections risked irritating voters.”

The cause is noble, even if it is a long-shot:

Many Republicans are skeptical of the impeachment, however, and so the House Freedom Caucus isn’t optimistic that leadership will take up their cause. “I believe they are going to do a motion to refer to the Judiciary Committee or they are going to do a motion to table,” Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, told reporters on Tuesday. “Either way, they are punting.” The resolution still has to be recognized as “properly noticed” privileged resolution, however. Assuming it is, a vote will have to take place within two legislative days.



