Trump should fire IRS commissioner, lawmakers demand

More than 30 lawmakers sent a letter to President Trump on Thursday in a renewed call for IRS Commissioner John Koskinen to step down from his post before the end of his term.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and 37 House members sent the letter, which accused Koskinen’s of providing false testimony to Congress and obstructing the congressional investigation into the IRS targeting of conservative political groups.

“So long as the IRS commissioner is a man who has misled the people, destroyed evidence, and failed his legal duties to the people’s representatives on Congress, the IRS is not ‘controlled by the people’,” the letter reads. “For that reason, we request you immediately remove Koskinen.”

The White House had no comment.

Commissioner Koskinen testified before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday, where he reaffirmed his commitment to staying on until the end of his five-year term, which is set to end on November 13 unless President Trump removes him. He has said he didn’t intend to mislead Congress and didn’t mean to lose key evidence in the fiasco.

This is not the first time President Trump has received a letter urging him to force Koskinen to resign. In January, Republican Study Committee Chairman Mark Walker, R-N.C., along with 53 other House Republicans, also wrote a letter asking Trump to remove him from his post before the end of his term.

Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., also, reportedly asked Vice President Mike Pence at the GOP retreat in Philadelphia in January if he would seek Koskinen’s resignation. According to those reports, the vice president told the congressman he would look into the matter and follow up with him in the next week.

Neither DeSantis’ nor the VP’s office responded to Fox News’ request for comment on whether there was any follow-up.