IRS chief's adviser discussed e-mails with Treasury

WASHINGTON - Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen testified this summer that he played no part in spreading word about the agency's controversial missing e-mails to the Treasury Department or the White House.

But one of his closest advisers apparently did.

A transcript of closed-door testimony with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee shows that IRS attorney Catherine Duval acknowledged telling Treasury legal counsel Hannah Stott-Bumsted about the matter in April. A Fox News affiliate first revealed the testimony on Monday.

Republican lawmakers have suggested that the IRS collaborated with the Treasury Department and the White House to control damage from the IRS targeting scandal, which involved screening nonprofit groups for additional scrutiny based on their names and policy positions. The IRS falls under the Treasury umbrella.

The White House has said it learned about the missing e-mails from Treasury in April, two months before the IRS told the congressional committees that requested the records for investigations.

Duval and Stott-Bumsted worked together at a D.C. law firm before joining the government. They're also friends, according to Duval.

"I was seeking to have a conversation with a colleague," Duval told the oversight committee. "I think that talking to appropriate colleagues about issues that you're working on can sharpen your thinking."

Duval added: "I don't think that Commissioner Koskinen would be surprised that I was talking to Ms. Stott-Bumsted. But Commissioner Koskinen would not know about particular conversations or the content of particular conversations."

Investigators may see Duval's testimony as a guidepost as they continue seeking evidence of potential collaboration among the White House, the Treasury Department, and the IRS.

In a report this week, a Senate panel criticized the IRS for its targeting of nonprofit groups, but concluded there were no political motivations behind the agency's actions. The White House has said repeatedly it had no ties to the scandal.

Koskinen testified in June that he did not direct anyone to talk to Treasury or the White House about the missing e-mails.

The IRS first told Congress in June that it was missing key e-mails for Lois Lerner, a former agency official whose division played a central role in the agency's targeting actions.

The IRS added last week that it is missing e-mails for five more employees who had ties to Lerner, including her senior adviser.