(CNN) – Conservative Republicans have been pretty tough on Lois Lerner over the IRS targeting scandal.
And now, it appears, the former tax official at the center of the controversy, was none too fond of a particular brand of conservatives, either.
Follow @politicaltickerFollow @danadavidsenCNN
An email exchange released by a Republican-led House committee investigating scrutiny by Lerner’s unit of GOP political groups seeking tax-exempt status suggest she’s no fan of conservative talk radio.
“Well, you should hear the whacko wing of the GOP … The right-wing radio shows are scary to listen to,” read an email to Lerner from an unidentified sender in November 2012 as Congress was probing the matter.
“Great. Maybe we are through if there are that many a**holes,” Lerner replies.
“And I’m talking about the hosts of the shows. The callers are rabid,” another email to Lerner, apparently from the same person, shows.
“So we don’t need to worry about alien terrorists. It’s our own crazies that will take us down,” Lerner responds.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, whose panel is looking into the IRS matter, said on Wednesday in a letter to the Justice Department that the example on Lerner’s official IRS email account demonstrates bias.
Lerner attorney: Client vilified by GOP out of convenience
The email exchange “directly demonstrates Ms. Lerner’s deep animus towards conservatives,” the Michigan Republican wrote.
Lerner resigned last year from the IRS and has so far refused to testify to Congress about the scandal that Republicans are aggressively investigating and Democrats call political overkill.
Her lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment about the emails.
Analyst claims some information on Lerner’s hard drive was retrievable
Issa: 'We'll probably never know' what happened to Lerner's hard drive
The IRS saga has intensified in recent weeks over controversy around other Lerner emails Republicans want to see as part of their probe but the IRS says were lost in the crash of her work computer’s hard drive.
CNN's Sean Kennedy contributed to this report.