WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department won’t seek criminal contempt charges against Lois Lerner, the former IRS official at the center of a controversy over how the agency treated conservative political groups.
The U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia will not bring contempt charges to a grand jury over Lerner’s refusal to testify last year before a pair of House committees.
U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen announced the decision in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner dated Tuesday that was made public on Wednesday.
The House had referred the case to federal prosecutors after lawmakers voted last year to hold Lerner in contempt. Lerner directed the IRS division that processes applications for tax-exempt status. She disclosed in 2013 that agents had improperly singled out conservative groups’ applications for extra scrutiny.