Rep. Peter Roskam (R., Ill.) blasted acting IRS commissioner Daniel Werfel for not being more forthcoming in today's House Ways and Means Committee hearing.
Documents provided to the committee were heavily redacted by the IRS, sparking a confrontation between Werfel the Illinois congressman.
The IRS commissioner said the redactions were done to protect "sensitive taxpayer information."
Roskam rejected Werfel's assertion, citing the Taxpayer Bill of Rights statute that prohibits the executive branch from using its discretion in determining what information to release in a Congressional inquiry.
"This is junk," Roskam exclaimed, as he crumpled up the redacted documents and tossed them aside:
DANIEL WERFEL: To the extent that there's a notion or a concern that there's been over redaction, that's something the we -
PETER ROSKAM: This is junk! This has no meaning.
DANIEL WERFEL: It might be junk but it might be sensitive taxpayer information -
PETER ROSKAM: It's not, we know it's not! And you're hiding behind it, and I'm telling you I'm putting you on notice. This committee intends to uphold the 1998 act and we're going to follow through on it to make sure the IRS is forthcoming and not creating a bunch of nonsense hiding behind bureaucratic double talk.
(H/T National Review)