--- title: Ted Cruz: Appoint IRS Prosecutor or Impeach Attorney General Holder description: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) added that the Justice Department is “the most partisan” in its history. canonical: https://time.com/2928515/ted-cruz-irs-special-prosecutor-impeach-attorney-general-holder/ author: Alex Rogers article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-26T20:14:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:39:27.909Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ted Cruz: Appoint IRS Prosecutor or Impeach Attorney General Holder og:description: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) added that the Justice Department is “the most partisan” in its history. og:url: https://time.com/2928515/ted-cruz-irs-special-prosecutor-impeach-attorney-general-holder/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt051c6c89b35ed610/69868282cd68484be10934d1/01c3d516a0b442d88516640e8c2037ab-0-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1486 og:image:height: 836 og:image:alt: Eric Holder og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ted Cruz: Appoint IRS Prosecutor or Impeach Attorney General Holder twitter:description: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) added that the Justice Department is “the most partisan” in its history. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt051c6c89b35ed610/69868282cd68484be10934d1/01c3d516a0b442d88516640e8c2037ab-0-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ted Cruz: Holder Must Appoint IRS Special Prosecutor or Expect to Be Impeached > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Jun 26, 2014 8:14 PM UTC  Attorney General Eric Holder testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 29, 2014. Attorney General Eric Holder testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 29, 2014.J. Scott Applewhite—AP by [Alex Rogers](https://time.com/author/alex-rogers/) ## Alex Rogers Jun 26, 2014 8:14 PM UTC Attorney General Eric Holder must appoint a special prosecutor to investigate IRS targeting of conservative groups or expect to face impeachment proceedings, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said on the chamber floor Thursday. “When an Attorney General mocks the rule of law, when an Attorney General corrupts the Department of Justice by conducting a nakedly partisan investigation to cover up political wrongdoing that conduct by any reasonable measure constitutes high crimes and misdemeanors,” said Cruz. “Attorney General Eric Holder has the opportunity to do the right thing. He could appoint a special prosecutor with meaningful independence who is not a major Obama donor.” The donor Cruz is referring to is Justice Department prosecutor Barbara Bosserman, who has given $6,750 to the Democratic Party and President Obama over the past ten years, according to the [Washington _Post_](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2014/01/09/obama-political-donor-leading-justice-departments-irs-investigation/). Bosserman has been chosen to lead the Justice Department probe into the IRS. Cruz and other conservatives are dismayed that the Justice Department has yet to indict anyone 13 months after the IRS admitted that it targeted nonprofit political advocacy groups with the terms “tea party” or “patriot” in their names from 2010 to 2012. Finance Committee Chairman Sen. Ron Wyden (D—Ore.) took to the floor after Cruz’s speech to object to the call for a special prosecutor, saying that there have been five IRS investigations either concluded or ongoing and another could add “significant cost” to the taxpayer. He also said the call was “premature” given that his committee’s report, conducted with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and his staff, is “almost finished.” The House of Representatives has impeached only one cabinet official in its history, Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876\. 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