While Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) grilled IRS Commissioner John Koskinen about the first time he learned his agency had lost Lois Lerner's emails, Koskinen insisted he remembers nothing about the situation. When Jordan responded incredulously, Koskinen explained, "We were in the middle of filing season as all this was going on."
Transcript of the exchange below:
JORDAN: I want to focus on when you did officially learn, according to your definition. The chairman asked you who told you this information, you can't remember?
KOSKINEN: I do not remember.
JORDAN: Did someone say in person, did they send you an email, how did you get the information?
KOSKINEN: I do not recall, I do not get emails on these subjects so I'm sure it was someone in person.
JORDAN: This has been a major news story for the last 13 months, and you don't remember who came up to you and said 'hey boss, we lost Lois Lerner's emails'? You don't even remember anything about that situation?
KOSKINEN: I remember being told in April--
JORDAN: But you don't remember who told you?
KOSKINEN: I do not recall who told me.
JORDAN: Something that's been a front page story, you would think that would be significant enough to remember how it happened, when they told you, what the actual date was. You might even remember where you were standing.
KOSKINEN: You've got to remember I'm running an agency with 90,000 people, we are dealing with a whole set of--
JORDAN: This has been the biggest issue in front of your agency for the last year!
KOSKINEN: We were in the middle of filing season as all this was going on.