IRS used IM system to conceal communications.

• Position: GOVERNMENT RECORDS

Documents released by the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform reveal that Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials used an instant messaging (IM) system, seemingly to prevent their communications from being archived, according to a July 28 article in the Washington Free Beacon.

The committee's documents show that IRS officials used an IM system called the "Office Communication Server" (OCS) that was not set up to archive messages.

Lois Lerner, former director of exempt organizations, had warned her colleagues to be cautious about what they said in e-mails; the agency had been asked several times...