 The House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday accused former IRS official Lois Lerner of targeting the prominent GOP group Crossroads GPS and urged the Justice Department to take a fresh look at whether she should be prosecuted. The rare step by the tax-writing panel comes as congressional Republicans are turning up the heat on the IRS, and a day before Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and the House Oversight Committee are expected to vote to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress. The Republican committee letter calls her actions an “aggressive and improper pursuit of Crossroads… but no evidence [that] she directed review of similarly situated left-leaning groups.” 
 
 The documents were released after a rare, closed-door Ways and Means markup, where the panel voted 23-14 along party lines to send a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, requesting he take the former head of the IRS tax-exempt division to court — though the department already has an ongoing investigation. Lerner, who headed an IRS division overseeing exempt organizations, pushed to deny Crossroads GPS’s application for tax-exempt status and to audit the group, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) says in his letter to Holder. Advocates for reform of campaign finance rules say the scandal obscures an important policy debate about whether such politically active groups deserve tax-exempt status in the first place. Ways and Means also alleges that Lerner misled federal investigators about when she first became aware of the IRS’s improper scrutiny of Tea Party groups, and that she recklessly handled confidential taxpayer information. "We think there's reason to believe that laws were broken, that constitutional rights were violated," said committee chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich. "We have to make sure that the signal goes out that this can't happen again." “If we don’t stand up for people’s constitutional rights on behalf of the American people, who else will?” 
 
 The Ways and Means vote was the latest wrinkle in the controversy, now 11 months old, that erupted when Lerner apologized in May 2013 for the IRS’s treatment of Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status. Issa has said that Lerner, who has twice refused to answer questions in front of the Oversight panel, is the most important figure in his IRS investigation. Democrats cried foul play, accusing Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) of releasing private taxpayer information, and said its protests have nothing to do with holding Lerner accountable. "It now seems clear that Republican members of the Ways and Means Committee have decided that they do not want to be left behind in the Republican campaign to declare this a scandal and keep it going until November," said Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, the committee's ranking Democrat. “It now seems clear that Republican members of the Ways and Means Committee have decided that they do not want to be left behind in the Republican campaign to declare this a scandal and keep it going until November.” 
 
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 Lerner’s lawyer William Taylor III said he had not heard from Ways and Means on the issue, and maintained his client’s innocence. The Ways and Means Committee has been investigating the IRS for nearly a year, since shortly after the mishandling of tea party applications became public. This is just another attempt by Republicans to vilify Ms. Lerner for political gain,” Taylor said in a statement to reporters. “It is now apparent that Ms. Lerner was directly and improperly involved in targeting our application, which may explain why we are still awaiting final action on our 501(c)(4) certification,” Law said. Camp also defended his decision to bring the charges against Lerner public. "I think it's important that the public has an understanding of what went on, and I think if I sent a secret letter to the Department of Justice, I think that would be doing a disservice to the Americans whose constitutional rights are on the line." Around the same time an email suggested she might be applying for a job with a pro-President Barack Obama group, Organizing For Action, though it is unclear if she was joking. Emily Pierce, a Justice Department spokeswoman, would only say Wednesday that “there is already an active, ongoing investigation into the IRS’s handling of applications by tax-exempt organizations.” 
 
 “It remains a high priority of the department,” she added.
– Last year's IRS scandal is back in the headlines. The House Ways and Means panel today formally asked the Justice Department for a criminal investigation into retired IRS official Lois Lerner, reports the Hill. Republicans on the committee pushed the vote through, alleging that emails show Lerner sought to deny tax-exempt status to conservative groups, particularly Crossroads GPS, while letting liberal ones slide. Democrats, meanwhile, accused the panel of political theatrics ahead of the midterms, given that the Justice Department already is conducting an investigation into the matter, reports AP. Some dueling quotes: Republican Dave Camp: "We think there's reason to believe that laws were broken, that constitutional rights were violated," said the committee's chairman. "We have to make sure that the signal goes out that this can't happen again." Democrat Sander Levin: "Making this committee an arm of any campaign committee does a deep disservice to the proud traditions and legacy of this committee. I don’t understand why you are doing this, Mr. Chairman.” Lerner's attorney: “Ms. Lerner has done nothing wrong. She did not violate any law or regulation. She did not mislead Congress. She did not interfere with the rights of any organization to a tax exemption. Those are the facts.” This isn't the only House panel investigating the issue. Tomorrow, Darrell Issa's House Oversight Committee will vote on whether to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions, reports Politico.