Ranking Member of the House Oversight Committee Rep. Elijah Cummings used carefully-chosen questions to former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman in an attempt to debunk the idea that the IRS had been used by the Obama administration to target its political enemies.
He noted that Shulman had been appointed by former president George W. Bush, and asked Shulman about any bias against conservatives. He failed, however, to ask Shulman about his party affiliation–a critical and highly relevant question.
Shulman donated to the Democratic National Committee in 2004, the year Bush ran for re-election against then-Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). Despite his support for the Democrats, Bush appointed Shulman anyway.
Rep. Cummings later challenged Shulman strongly on his decision not to inform Congress about the IRS’s misconduct after discovering it in May 2012, after he had denied such misconduct in March 2012 testimony.