The Department of Justice has chosen an Obama supporter and donor to lead the investigation regarding the IRS targeting conservative groups for audits.
In response to the scandal, President Obama promised in May 2013, when the FBI opened inquiry into the IRS’ Tea Party targeting, that "If in fact, IRS personnel engaged in the kind of practices that have been reported on and were intentionally targeting conservative groups, then that’s outrageous and there’s no place for it and they have to be held fully accountable because the IRS, as an independent agency, requires absolute integrity and people have to have confidence that they’re applying the laws in a nonpartisan way."
Rich Lowry, Editor of the National Review, spoke with Fox News’ Martha McCallum about the investigation.
Regarding the controversial pick to lead the investigation, Lowry told McCallum "It creates an appearance of a conflict of interest when you’re a major Obama donor selected to engage in this very politically sensitive investigation. The amount of money she gave for a government employee was quite substantial…This isn’t a Hollywood mogul, so that speaks to a real, substantial investment in President Obama." It has been reported that the lead investigator’s personal donation to President Obama and the Democratic party was $6, 750.
The Department of Justice has refuted the notion that the lead investigator, Barbara Kay Bosserman, was specially chosen, saying instead that they cannot consider people’s politics or their donations in making career decisions about them. Lowry disagrees: "This is something different. This isn’t a routine promotion or anything of that nature. This is going out and affirmatively selecting someone for an extremely sensitive investigation. On that level, it just seems outrageous."
"It was like pulling teeth even for them to find out that this woman had been selected to head the investigation" Lowry added.