Rep. Darrell Issa ripped into the Obama administration after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said its top official may have deleted emails that Republicans are trying to track down.
The CMS told the National Archives Wednesday that Administrator Marilyn Tavenner may have deleted some emails being sought by GOP lawmakers to investigate the botched rollout of HealthCare.gov.
{mosads}“Just this week, my staff followed up with HHS, who has failed to comply with a subpoena from ten months ago. Even at that point, the administration did not inform us that there was a problem with Ms. Tavenner’s email history,” said Issa, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, in a statement Thursday.
The issue gives fodder to Issa and other Republicans who claim the administration has purposefully lost or deleted emails for more than 20 witnesses in their ongoing investigations.
“It defies logic that so many senior Administration officials were found to have ignored federal recordkeeping requirements only after Congress asked to see their emails,” said Issa.
Recently, Issa also suggested that former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner intentionally wiped her computer hard drive to avoid scrutiny over the agency’s targeting of conservative groups.