IRS chief to Congress: No more details on emails until IRS completes its review

WASHINGTON (AP) — The commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service is telling the congressional committee that oversees its activities that he won't share any more details about lost emails with Congress until the IRS completes its own review.

John Koskinen told the House Ways and Means Committee that "we're not going to dribble out the information and have it played out in the press." He accused Republicans of releasing inaccurate, interim information.

The committee is looking into allegations that the IRS improperly reviewed applications of tea party and other conservative groups for tax-exempt status.

Lawmakers have been seeking documents since 2012 related to former IRS executive Lois Lerner's involvement in the tea party investigation.

The IRS has provided thousands of documents, including many of Lerner's. But the IRS told Congress a week ago that some of Lerner's emails were lost in a 2011 computer crash.

Koskinen says eight federal employees connected to the tea party investigation experienced hard drive crashes.

He says Lerner's hard drive was recycled and presumably destroyed after unsuccessful efforts to recover information on it.