Senator wants indicted IRS employee off the payroll

The ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee wants to know why several Internal Revenue Service employees indicted or convicted of felonies are still on the agency's payroll. According to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the Justice Department in late March indicted IRS employee Aucqunette Cunningham on charges that she accepted bribes in exchange for providing information on tax returns. Following the indictment, the IRS placed Cunningham on paid administrative leave. "I imagine that most taxpayers writing their April 15 check will not be pleased to know that while Ms. Cunningham awaits trial for disclosing taxpayer information, she is at home on administrative leave, collecting a government check," the senator wrote to IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti in a letter dated April 4. This is Grassley's second inquiry about the IRS' paid leave policies in the last year. In July, the lawmaker questioned Rossotti about Kenneth Dossey, an IRS employee who was convicted in February 2001 of wiretapping and mail fraud, and sentenced to six months' home detention and two years' probation. Dossey drew his $80,000 salary for three years, and according to Grassley, his pay wasn't cut off until the senator raised concerns about the situation. "I do not understand why the American taxpayer has to foot the bill for this," Grassley wrote. Grassley asked Rossotti to provide information on five other employees whose paid administrative leave terms exceeded 30 days. The list included a GS-13 manager, on paid leave for 425 days for fighting and assault, as well as a GS-14 manager who spent all of 2000 on paid leave for unprofessional conduct. "I cannot understand why these cases take so long to resolve," Grassley said. The lawmaker also asked for more information about how and when paid administrative leave is applied. "Administrative leave may in some instances make sense; however, we must recognize that in many cases it leads to significant waste of taxpayer money because it drains limited IRS resources," Grassley's letter said. Grassley asked that Rossotti respond to his inquiries by the end of the month.