Isakson: Evidence growing IRS targeted groups

U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson suggested Thursday that more emails from an ex-IRS official will be recovered and will show a systematic targeting of religious and conservative groups by the government agency.<br /> <br /> The Republican senator said an email recovered from the computer of Lois Lerner suggests that the IRS official suggested the agency investigate an invitation sent to Sen. Chuck Grassley because the group, which hasn't been named, offered to pay for his wife to attend an event where Grassley was scheduled to speak.<br /> <br /> The IRS has contended that Lerner's emails have been lost because her computer's hard drive crashed. But Isakson, speaking on WDUN's "Morning News with Bill and Joel," said he doesn't believe the emails are actually lost.<br /> <br /> "I can tell you that there is no such thing as losing as email," Isakson said. "They are in there somewhere. It may take a high-tech person to find them, but you can usually find them in there. I believe this will intensify the call for a special prosecutor and a forensic audit that will show a system going through the IRS for the last two years to target religious and conservative groups and certain other individuals, which is just absolutely wrong."<br /> <br /> Isakson said the American people have always had questions about the IRS, but the latest controversies have made the situation untenable.<br /> <br /> "The complexity of the tax code in and of itself breeds mistrust of the IRS," Isakson said. "To have an agency mistrusted as it is on its face, to then have something like this happen and then add to the enforcement powers - the enforcement of healthcare - creates an overly burdensome bureaucratic organization that the American people don't trust."<br /> <br /> On the subject of the prisoner swap for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, Isakson said the swap sent the message to American enemies that the United States will now negotiate with terrorists, but he stopped short of saying the president violated the law.<br /> <br /> "I don't think the president broke the law, but he broke confidence with the American military and with the American public," he said. "We sent a clear signal to those who would harm America that if you can catch an American, if you have hold an American soldier, we will trade your guys for our guys."<br />