IRS used Instant Messaging to Hide Communications

The “Office Communication Server” or OCS as it is called, was employed by IRS officials, including many in the Exempt Organizations (EO) Unit, which was headed by Lois Lerner.
As the Oversight Committee report states, the instant messaging system did not archive any communications, so it is not possible to know what employees of the EO unit discussed on it.
However, in an email uncovered by the Committee Lerner warns her colleagues about evading Congressional oversight:

“I was cautioning folks about email and how we have had several occasions where Congress has asked for emails and there has been an electronic search for responsive emails – so we need to be cautious about what we say in emails.”

Lerner then asks whether OCS is automatically archived. When informed it was not, Lerner responded “Perfect.”

The full report is here.
Instant messaging system can be set to automatically archive messages, however the IRS deliberately chose not to do so, according to one employee interviewed by the Committee. The undisputed fact that the agency deliberately selected not to archive messages focuses questions about the true nature and purpose of the OCS system and what messages the IRS selected to delete, according to the Committee.
Needless to say, the apparent use of OCS system to elude Congressional oversight once again reveals the IRS is hiding from the American people the truth about the entire Lois Lerner targeting scandal.

Photo: Adam Fagen on Flickr