Via Greg Sargent, Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Government Oversight Committee,
is giving Committee Chairman Darrell Issa a Monday deadline for identifying what—if anything—should be withheld from an interview with the IRS Screening Group Manager that Issa has thus far refused to release:
In order to move forward in a responsible manner, I propose the following approach. I am attaching for your review a copy of the transcript of the Committee’s interview of the IRS Screening Group Manager in Cincinnati. In this copy, the names of individuals have been redacted to protect their privacy. In order to provide the public with the most comprehensive information possible without jeopardizing the Committee’s investigation, I request that you review this version of the transcript and identify any specific text you believe should be withheld from the American people, as well as the specific reason you believe that text should continue to be concealed from public view. I request that you provide any additional proposed redactions on Monday, June 17, 2013.
Cummings has
previously said he will release the full transcripts if Issa does not. The letter doesn't say exactly when he will do so, but the language above suggests strongly that if Issa does not reply by Monday, Cummings will move forward on his own. If Issa does respond, however, Cummings will take his concerns into account and may make additional redactions.
Issa has been using selected excerpts from interviews to accuse President Obama of using the IRS to punish his political enemies, but has refused to release the full transcripts. Yesterday, he offered a convoluted defense of cherry-picking, saying that releasing full transcripts would hinder the investigation, but that selected releases were important in order to keep the public up-to-date.
Over the weekend, Cummings released portions of the committee's interview with the IRS Screening Group Manager, revealing that the employee—a self-described conservative Republican—had not witnessed anything suggesting White House involvement. Moreover, the screening was not motivated by political ideology but rather as an effort to standardize treatment of the flood of tea party applications.
I guess if you assume that the purpose of Issa's investigation is to attack President Obama, it's not hard to see why he'd believe releasing that information would "hinder" his committee's work.