The Justice Department announced on Friday that they’re closing the book on their two-year-old investigation into whether or not the IRS improperly targeted Tea Party groups in the run up to the 2010 and 2012 elections.
But their judgment is sure to cause anger: they announced there would be no charges filed. Not against Lois Lerner—the former IRS official at the center of the scandal. Not against anyone.
In a letter to Congress, obtained by CNN, Assistant Attorney General Peter Kadzik basically said there wasn’t enough evidence for the Department of Justice to do anything about it—despite the mountain of evidence that seemingly piled up over the last few years:
We found no evidence that any IRS official acted based on political, discriminatory, corrupt, or other inappropriate motives that would support a criminal prosecution. We also found no evidence that any official involved in the handling of tax-exempt applications or IRS leadership attempted to obstruct justice.
Based on the evidence developed in this investigation and the recommendation of experienced career prosecutors and supervising attorneys at the department, we are closing our investigation and will not seek any criminal charges.
The scandal had been colored for the extreme lengths Lerner went through to hide evidence. After first claiming that her data had been erased due to a hard drive crash, the IRS later admitted that the crash hadn’t been until months after the Justice Department had already issued a subpoena.
The data was later recovered on backup systems, after which Lerner tried to hinder the investigation by pleading her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
But, as it turns out, the investigation was all for naught—Lerner’s free to enjoy her forced “retirement” from the IRS.
