Sari Horwitz reports for the WaPo:
No criminal charges will be filed in the two-year investigation into whether any IRS officials, including Lois Lerner, committed crimes in connection with the handling of tax-exemption applications by conservative groups, the Justice Department announced Friday.* * *Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) criticized the Justice Dept.'s decision not to bring charges as "giving Lois Lerner a free pass" and called it "a low point of accountability in an Administration that is better known for punishing whistleblowers than the abuse and misconduct they expose."
"After stating that their investigation confirms that Tea Party and conservative groups were improperly targeted, they dismiss it merely as a byproduct of gross mismanagement and incompetence - ignoring volumes of evidence in the public record and efforts to obstruct legitimate inquires," Issa said in a statement.
The tolerance of the DOJ for appalling acts on the part of governmental officials fundamentally undermines the moral authority of the DOJ to prosecute anyone. Imagine, for a second, being someone against whom the feds drop the hammer and seeing so many government officials or politically connected cronies getting away with openly committing crime (e.g., Eliott Spitzer and structuring).
Our nation is becoming lawless. And the DOJ is helping it become so.