WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - Aug 11, 2014) - Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement in response to today's sworn declarations from IRS officials Aaron G. Signor, John H. Minsek, Stephen L. Manning, Timothy P. Camus, and Thomas J. Kane, which were provided to the federal district court on order from Judge Emmet G. Sullivan regarding the "lost" emails of Lois Lerner and other IRS officials. The conveniently missing emails have been the subject of longstanding Judicial Watch Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. IRS (No. 1:13-cv-01559)):
"These sworn declarations delivered to the court today were to discuss what happened to Lois Lerner's 'lost' emails and any other computer records reportedly lost by the IRS. This latest IRS filing seems to treat as a joke Judge Sullivan's order requiring the IRS to produce details about Lois Lerner's "lost" emails and any efforts to retrieve and produce them to Judicial Watch as required under law. Frankly, it seems the cover-up continues."
Judge Sullivan authorized Judicial Watch to submit a request for limited discovery into the missing IRS records after September 10.
Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola was appointed by Judge Sullivan to manage and assist in discussions between Judicial Watch and the IRS about how to obtain any missing records from sources. Magistrate Facciola is an expert in e-discovery.