A member of the House Ways & Means Committee, who was hearing testimony by Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, received a rare standing ovation after a four-minute takedown of the Internal Revenue Service by systematically criticizing each tenet of Miller's previous statements.
Pennsylvania Congressman Mike Kelly, R-Erie, was granted time to question Miller during Friday's proceeding. First, he asked Miller to confirm that he had held the acting commissioner role for the Internal Revenue Service, effective November 2012. Miller replied in agreement.
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The otherwise normal proceeding took an emotional turn when Rep. Mike Kelly then asked whether it was true that Miller had previously held the position as head of the IRS Tax Exemption & Government Entities Division. That department, as Kelly noted was the one under scrutiny for admittedly targeting conservative and patriot-themed groups in their applications for tax-exempt status.
"So you were in Cincinnati [the location where the office that a number of the those agents allegedly targeting the groups was based]?" the former Butler, Pa. car dealer asked. "No ... So, obviously, the IRS is a nationwide organization," Miller began, after Kelly questioned further about the Cincinnati location.
Not amused, Kelly continued, becoming more irate at a content-looking Miller. Removing his glasses, Kelly continued to question Miller, whose perceived nonchalance at the issue at hand angered the Pennsylvania Republican.
"I have a grandson who's afraid to get out of bed at night because he thinks something under the bed is going to grab him," Kelly said, "I think most Americans feel that way about the IRS," he continued, remarking how Americans look upon correspondence from the IRS "with terror".
"I know you're resigning, you're walking away," he said to Miller, "but this [scandal] will not go away," Kelly promised. "Where you're sitting, you should be outraged, but you're not," Kelly said incredulously, saying that in-turn the "American people are [outraged], as they should be."
Miller looked on as the Congressman continued to verbally tear apart the IRS over the targeting scandal. "This has nothing to do with political parties," the otherwise conservative Kelly said, "this has to do with highly targeted groups-this reconfirms everything that the American public believes [about the IRS]," Kelly said angrily, pointing his pen in the direction of the row of testifying officials.
"Is there any limit to the scope of where you folks can go?" he asked Miller, who appeared stunned at the diatribe. "'Who do you get emails from? Whose sign do you put up in your front yard?' -this is a tax question?" Kelly said.
"This is an outrage to all of America!" Kelly later finished, to loud standing applause. The chairman of the committee could be heard calling Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Ark., to have his turn at questioning thereafter, who likely had a tough act to follow.
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