Judge gives IRS a week on emails
A federal judge Friday gave the IRS one week to hand over details on Lois Lerner's crashed hard drive and how to track it, the second federal judge in as many days to seek more information about the elusive emails.
Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia ordered the the tax agency to find out by July 18 what happened to the crashed hard drive responsible for erasing two years worth of the former IRS official's emails, including whether it's traceable through a serial number.
If such information is gone, the judge wants an affidavit written under penalty of perjury by an IRS IT professional with "firsthand knowledge" of the situation.
(Also on POLITICO: Issa subpoenas W.H. official)
News that two years worth of Lerner's emails are gone has revitalized the waning controversy, which began in May 2013 when Lerner first revealed that her division was inappropriately targeting tea party groups seeking tax breaks.
The order could force the IRS to tell the court and the public information currently under wraps because of an ongoing watchdog investigation on the lost Lerner emails. The IRS says it cannot answer many congressional inquiries about the emails until after the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has completed its probe.
The IRS's attorney, Justice Department lawyer Joseph Sergi, did not know when or how Lerner's hard drive was recycled, prompting more questions from the judge.
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