VIDEO: Trey Gowdy vs. #IRS Commish Josh Koskinen – guess who wins?

Congressman Trey Gowdy
Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-SC-4
Photo by Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call

LOTS of fireworks at last night’s rare evening Congressional hearing, this one on the scandal surrounding the IRS targeting of conservative groups – and the still-unexplained loss of two years worth of emails from Lois Lerner and other key IRS employees. Unsurprisingly, rising star South Carolina Congressman Trey Gowdy got his time in … and then some. Below is video of him grilling IRS Commissioner Josh Koskinen (via Gateway Pundit):

A brief recap of Gowdy vs. Koskinen, via The Blaze:

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) late Monday criticized IRS Commissioner John Koskinen for claiming there’s no evidence of criminal misconduct at the IRS over the targeting scandal, even though he hasn’t bothered to examine the criminal code.

β€œYou have already said multiple times today that there was no evidence that you found of any criminal wrongdoing,” Gowdy said. β€œI want you to tell me what criminal statutes you’ve evaluated.”

β€œI have not looked at any,” Koskinen replied.

β€œWell then how can you possibly tell our fellow citizens that there’s not criminal wrongdoing if you don’t even know what statutes to look at?” Gowdy shot back.

Koskinen said several times that he’s seen no evidence that anyone consciously acted inappropriately, but Gowdy said that’s not the same as trying to examine whether a crime was committed.

β€œHow would you know what elements of the crime existed?” Gowdy asked. β€œYou don’t even know what statutes are in play.”

Koskinen said he believes he can rely on common sense, but Gowdy blasted that answer out of the water before Koskinen could finish his thought.

β€œCommon sense? Instead of the criminal code, you want to rely on common sense?” Gowdy said as Koskinen shook his head at the table.

β€œYou can shake your head all you want to, Commissioner. You have said today that there is no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, and I’m asking you what criminal statutes you have reviewed to reach that conclusion.” Gowdy concluded that Koskinen had β€œno idea” whether any crimes have been committed.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa held his own as well during the hearing, telling Koskinen, “we have a problem with you and you have a problem with credibility.”

Interestingly enough, Koskinen sounds like a pretty reliable backer of Democrats over the years, wouldn’t you say?

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen looks like he got the job atop the taxman agency the old fashioned way: He bought it.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, Koskinen has donated about $100,000 to Democrat candidates and committees since his first donation in 1979. His donor recipients include Gary Hart, the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic nominee in each presidential campaign since 1980 (which would even include Walter Mondale, who stood no chance of beating President Ronald Reagan in 1984), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Hillary Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s campaigns. He most recently donated $2,500 to Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) in 2013.

He has given no money to Republicans. The taxman is a partisan Democrat.

What a surprise …

The hearings into this matter will continue today.

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