Progressives. All of those things have been proven untrue. This committee sent a criminal referral of possible criminal wrongdoing just a month ago to the justice department. We have heard nothing. You bury it in a 27 page letter to the senate, asking for them to conclude the investigation, that you have lost lois lerners emails because of a hard drive crash. Monday, our investigators ask your agency whether any other hard drives crash. We learn six other hard drives of the people who were investigating were involved. You did not tell us that. We told you on monday. Because we asked you. And what did you do with that information . We asked you whether any other hard drives were crushed. This is unbelievable. You told us you are going to give us all of lois lerners emails, and you learned in february that this crash. I did not learn in february there was a crash. I am not asking a question. I am making a statement. You are the Internal Revenue service. You can reach into the lives of hardworking taxpayers, and with a phone call or letter can turn their lives upside down. You ask taxpayers to hang on to seven years of their personal tax information, in case they are ever audited. And you cannot keep six months of employee emails . And now that we are seeing this investigation, you do not have the emails. Hard drives crash . You learned about this months ago, you just told us, and we had to ask you on monday. This is being misleading again. This is a pattern of abuse, a pattern of behavior, that is not giving us any confidence that this agency is being impartial. I do not believe you. This is incredible. I have a long career. This is the first time anybody has said you do not believe me. I do not believe you. We have a disagreement. Our record was not buried in 27 pages. Most of the 27 pages is exhibits. When asked about the custodians, we told you what we knew, which we knew for one day. Congress is investigating will you let him answer the question . I did not ask him a question. If yes, you did. I control the time. I realize disrupting a hearing sort of come on. Come on. I am not yielding time. I control the time. Regular order. If we are investigating criminal wrongdoing, targeting people based on political beliefs, and the emails in question are lost because of a hard drive crash that is apparently unrecoverable, which a lot of i. T. Professionals question, and you do not tell us and how we ask you about it, that is not being forthcoming. I yield back the balance of my time. That is not true. The gentleman has yielded back his time. Thank you. Mr. Neale is recognized. I am going to let you answer mr. Ryans question. Mr. Ryan tried to leave the question the impression that only when asked did we reveal information about the hard drive crash. The next morning the committee put out a release, leaping to the conclusion that emails have been lost, particularly nicole flaxs emails. There is no evidence that any of her emails were lost. We are trying to do as the treasury letter suggested. As soon as we were able to give you a whole picture, we are providing that. It is not an response to a question, that was a public report. 770,000 pages, you will have 67,000 emails, or the 4000 of her emails from the. Of the crash have not been lost, they will be produced. At this point, may i ask a question here in your time . There is a distinction, the committee did know about the hard drive, but we did not know about the server. There is a distinction. We did not know about the server. What came inr, is the carbon copy of the letter. The server means they are lost forever. A hard drive crash doesnt necessarily mean that emails are lost forever. If there is a significant distinction here that has not been made yet can i respond . You may. That is one of the reasons we did not immediately say we had discovered a hard drive crash. As you say, it does not mean they are lost forever. In the case of lois lerner, 24,000 of her emails have not been lost. You will have them by the end of the month. When a hard drive crashes, emails do not necessarily disappear. Her email account, any of the emails in her account, were included. You been watching a special look at the irs targeting investigation. Joining us to talk about it, kim dixon. What is the status . Ongoing. Vestigation is temporary hiatus to some extent as lawmakers are in their districts. Draftsave been some leaked out. Including yesterday. Accusations by House Republicans that prosecutors at doj may have potential conflicts of interest. At lois lerner, and one of the hearings earlier, that says that the irs probe also includes lois lerner emails. Looking at some erased emails on her blackberry, what do you know about that . Theyre looking at the computer crash that the irs says happened in this learner in 2000 11 am a and they have provided email showing or contacting Computer Services and seeking help to fix her computer. That nearly two years of emails are gone they dont have backup tapes. People are looking into it. The treasury Inspector General has her blackberry, at the irs said the blackberry will only have emails that were in outlook, on her main computer. It is ongoing. And theentioned, headline reflects this, republicans are pushing for a special counsel. Withhat they are not happy the status of the investigation, calling on justice to appoint a special counsel. How likely is that . I think that is unlikely. Attorney general holder has said he does not think that this case merits a special counsel. It is unclear whether these alleged conflicts of interest would push it to that level. One of the women they focused on had given money to obama. She is one of many people looking into this, and a couple of other people called out, had previously worked on irs issues and had relationships with miss learner. What about the issue itself. The issue of tax exempt status from these political groups. Where does that stand . There is effort earlier this year, some proposals to change that. Will that happen . Anytime soon. They pulled that proposal to revamp it. A new version is not expected until next year. The irs is gun shy from the black i black eye they got from scrutinizing these tea party groups. That is coming, sometime early next year. The initial version changed to the social welfare organizations. A reminder to our cspan viewers, all of the hearing is available on cspan. Org. Thank you so much. Resident obama defended his administrations response to the a lapses. Va lapses. Then we will hear from new va secretary robert mcdonald. To two federal Immigration Judges will discuss the influx into the u. S. Watch live coverage from the National Press club summit tomorrow at 10 00 eastern. Then the cbo director will talk. President obama announced steps to improve the availability of Mental Health care for military personnel and talked about the ongoing violence in iraq. The president spoke at the National Convention in charlotte, North Carolina. Thank you so much. Everybody have a seat. Hello, legionnaires. Hello i will thank the commander for the introduction, but more importantly, for your service in the army and as you conclude your tenure as commander. Thank you for your tireless commitment to americas veterans. I want to thank the entire Leadership Team for welcoming me here today, including the executive director in washington, all the daughters, spouses [cheers] sisters of the auxiliary, and the sons of the american legion. Let me say that i join you in honoring the memory of a friend to many of you, an army veteran and a great legionnaire from North Carolina. [applause] to senators richard burr and kay hagan, mayor, thank you for welcoming us to the great state of North Carolina and to charlotte, and for your great support of our troops and our veterans. I do have to mention the presence of boys nation. Matthew from alabama, i welcome matthew and all the incredible young people, boys and girls nation. I was running a little late so they just started singing, filling the white house with patriotic songs, and then they sang happy birthday to me, so i was pretty moved, and they are a tribute to the region and to our country. Ive brought with me today the new secretary of veterans affairs, bob mcdonald. [applause] and for those of you who are not aware, bob is one of americas most accomplished business leaders. He served as an Army Airborne ranger. So he has got a reputation for jumping into tough situations. And he has hit the ground running, visiting hospitals and clinics across the country, hearing directly from veterans, helping us change the way ea does business. And by the way, washington doesnt agree on much these days, but he got confirmed 970. [applause] people understand he is the right man for the job and he has my full support. Bob, i want to thank you for once again serving your country. It is an honor to be back with the american legion. The story of your service, we see the service of america. When your country needed you most, you stepped forward, raised your right hand, you swore a solemn oath, you earned the title you carried to this day. Among you are proud veterans of world war ii, of korea, of vietnam, desert storm and the balkans, and our newest veterans from iraq and afghanistan. Across the generations, you served with honor, you made us proud, you carried the memory of friends who never came home. Our fallen, our prisoners of war, those missing in action, heroes that our nation can never forget. When you took off that uniform, you earned another title, the title of the veteran, and you never stopped serving. The legionnaires who put on that cap and wore that emblem for god and country and took care of one another, making sure that you receive the benefits you have earned and deserve. Just as you help the defend america over there, you have helped build it at home as leaders and role models in your communities, as entrepreneurs, as champions for a Strong National defense. You helped the United States of america become what we are