Ted Cruz: Impeach Holder over IRS targeting

Published April 11, 2014 8:35pm ET



Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) pulled no punches when criticizing Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday, as he called on Congress to impeach the Department of Justice head.

The Tea Party darling discussed potential consequences for Holder during an interview with Sean Hannity on his radio show.

“Among other things, Congress should impeach Eric Holder because Eric Holder is defying Congress and defying the rule of law,” Cruz said.

The Texas conservative, who is considered a contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, told Hannity the attorney general has failed to investigate the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups.

Calling Holder the “most partisan attorney general in the country,” Cruz noted that despite reassurances from President Barack Obama, the Department of Justice has not indicted a single person in the months following a Department of Treasury inspector general report that found the IRS had scrutinized conservative and Tea Party groups.

“In the eight months that have transpired, not a single person has been indicted,” Cruz said. “In the eight months that have transpired, most of the victims of wrongful targeting haven’t even been interviewed.”

While the attorney general received less-than-favorable remarks from the 2016 hopeful, Cruz commended his colleagues on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, who voted to hold former IRS head of tax exempt organizations Lois Lerner in contempt.

In her appearances before committee members on Capitol Hill, Lerner refused to answer questions surrounding her involvement in the scandal and instead invoked her Fifth Amendment rights.

In addition to the Oversight Committee, lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee also approved contempt charges for Lerner.

With the former IRS head now facing such charges, Lerner’s case is now referred to the Justice Department.

Cruz has previously criticized Holder for his handling of the IRS scandal and called on him to appoint a special prosecutor in the investigation of the agency. The Department of Justice, however, denied Cruz’s request.

Holder, himself, faces criminal contempt charges after the Department of Justice refused to hand over documents pertaining to the botched gun-running operation, Fast and Furious. Several Republicans noted the attorney general’s refusal to accept such charges during various hearings he testified before this week.

h/t The Hill