Posted on 05/11/2013 6:01:25 PM PDT by neverdem
Senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew employees were singling out conservative groups for extra scrutiny as early as 2011, according to a watchdog agency’s report set to be released next week, POLITICO has confirmed from a congressional source. The disclosure that senior officials knew agents were flagging applications containing the words “patriot” or “tea party” contradicts public statements by former IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. He repeatedly denied that his agency was targeting conservative groups when asked by Congress last year. “There’s absolutely no targeting. This is the kind of back and forth that happens to people” who apply for tax-exempt status, Shulman told a House Ways and Means subcommittee in March 2012. (Also on POLITICO: Where does IRS look for cheats?) The Internal Revenue Service is in the process of confirming when its leadership was informed, according an IRS statement released Saturday. “IRS senior leadership was not aware of this level of specific details at the time of the March 2012 hearing. The timeline does not contradict the Commissioner’s testimony. While Exempt Organizations officials knew of the situation earlier, the timeline reflects that IRS senior leadership did not have this level of detail,” the statement reads. The revelation about senior leadership adds fuel to the agency’s admission Friday that at least 75 conservative groups were flagged for extra review because their tax documents contained the words “tea party” or “patriot.” (Also on POLITICO: Immigration's new ally: Tea partiers) The disclosures are guaranteed to heighten Republican fears that the agency is targeting the administration’s political enemies and hands the GOP a fresh issue to use in attacking President Barack Obama’s administration. The congressional source, who was briefed on the report, said the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration found that senior Washington officials were informed in 2011. The agency is not disputing the timeline included in the report. The findings from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report were first reported by Associated Press. The report is set to be released in full next week. The report will also confirm that the IRS asked unnecessary questions of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status from the agency, the source said, and that there were delays in processing applications for conservative applicants and other c(4) groups. Lois Lerner, who is responsible for overseeing tax-exempt groups, told reporters Friday that low-level employees in Cincinnati flagged at least 75 groups but declined to say when the reviews took place. Lerner also said she did not remember when she informed her bosses about the employees’ actions. The report will be the first official confirmation that senior Washington IRS officials knew employees were targeting conservative groups before Shulman denied the charge to Congress. The Associated Press said the report did not say if Shulman was directly informed about the program. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) will convene a hearing on the matter in the coming weeks. Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) will do the same. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor also said the House would investigate the matter. (Also on POLITICO: The Tea Party Caucus returns) Sen. Orrin Hatch, the ranking member of the Finance Committee, promised to fully investigate who was behind the IRS decision to probe conservative tax-exempt groups and compared the practice to Watergate and “the Nixon years.” “This, to me, is simply unbelievable. While I’m glad that the IRS has apologized for this misconduct, that is simply not enough. We need to know more,” the Utah Republican said at a conference in Washington on Saturday. “We need to know who was behind this unlawful activity, when it began, who found out about it, when they found out, and what they did or did not do to correct it.”
Obama's administration is a bunch of outlaws anywhere you look!
It sorta begs the question, of the Tea Party and the IRS, which group seems more like terrorists?
No, it was only a mistake. /s /s /s /s /s...
I listened briefly to C-SPAN’s discussion of this story this morning. A man from Georgia on the Democrat line (probably black, judging from his voice) thought the IRS actions were justified because of the signs that the Tea Party people carried at their demonstrations (against paying taxes).
anyone else think pollutico purposely did not capitalize “tea party” in their headline??
Yeah, but don’t forget that a ‘Bush guy’ was in charge.
Sheesh...
In other words, he is a lying sack of stinking, rotting, disgusting putrefying, slime sucking scum bag piece of bullsh--. I do not have vey strong opinions on this matter. S/.
Man, you’ve got to stop holding it in. It isn’t good for yer blood pressure. ;-)
Don't hold back Mark - tell us how you really feel...
Bookmark
Roger that. It is just one outrage after another. After awhile, I just lose it, and let it all hang out.
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