Today's continuation of the hearings into the IRS and its "lost" emails featured an interesting witness. David S. Ferriero is the chief Archivist of the United States National Archives and Records Administration and he was asked about the Federal Records Act. According to Mr. Ferriero's testimony the law states that “when an agency becomes aware of an incident of unauthorized destruction, they must report the incident to us.”
So, Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) wondered if the IRS had violated the law by not informing the National Archives of Lerner's convenient "hard drive failure."
"At any time in 2011 through last Monday, did the IRS report the loss of any records related to Lois Lerner?" Walberg asked.
"No," Ferriero replied.
"Is it fair to say the IRS broke the federal records act?"
“They are required - any agency is required - to notify us when they realize they have a problem that could be destruction or disposal - unauthorized disposal,” Ferriero said.
“But they didn’t do that." Walberg said.
“That’s right,” Ferriero answered.
"Did they break the law?" Walberg asked.
“I’m not a lawyer.”
"But," Walberg insisted. "You administer the Federal Records Act."
"I do."
"If they didn't follow it, can we safely assume they broke the law?” Rep. Walberg asked again.
"They did not follow the law.”
...uh-oh. We'll be praying for the health and safety of Mr. Ferriero, as he endures a lifetime of audits.
