Lois Lerner, the Internal Revenue Service official at the center of the controversy surrounding the agency’s scrutiny of Tea Party groups, has retired effective today, according to a Republican congressional aide.
Lerner, the tax agency’s former director of exempt organizations, was placed on paid administrative leave earlier this year. Last week, acting IRS commissioner Danny Werfel told a congressional committee that she was “technically still employed.â€
William Taylor, Lerner’s attorney, didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment. Lerner refused to testify before Congress, citing her constitutional protections against self-incrimination.
Bloomberg NewsThe
Associated Press has confirmed her resignation.