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I think the delays in the approval of the non-profit status of the conservative groups was bad, but it is not even close to being the real problem here, is it? I mean, if it was politically motivated it would have been a misuse of the IRS, but absent a "smoking gun" memo or e-mail, no one can prove whether politics was at the heart of that problem. Of course, everyone knows perfectly well that it was the reason for the delay, but nobody in the Obama administration and nobody in the MSM will ever admit it. Even with a "smoking gun," they won't admit it and that's that.

An infinitely bigger issue is the illegal disclosure of the information the IRS coerced from the would-be nonprofits to their ideological and political rivals, and the misuse of that information by those outside organizations to smear the applicant organizations and their donors, large and small. Even though I'm not a lawyer, I can see how that must have broken many - perhaps dozens - of laws.

The Federal Government has hundreds of pages of regulations about the handling of "PII" or "Personally Identifiable Information," and anyone who handles such information is briefed in detail about the great care with which its confidentiality must be protected.

That sort of briefing is given to anyone who works in any capacity in the government. I would imagine that the rules, and the briefings, and the sign-offs, and the CAC certificates, and the qualifications required within the IRS would be much more strict. It is inconceivable that anyone working there - except perhaps custodial people, electricians and plumbers and the like - would not be aware of these laws and regulations.

The only way they would break these laws - and surely they did break them - would be at the express instruction of their superiors.

That's the real problem, as anyone with an above-IQ temperature surely knows. Including the "inspector general."

I wonder if the "inspector general" wears one of those spiffy Joyclyn-Elders-type uniforms at work.

but absent a "smoking gun" memo or e-mail, no one can prove whether politics was at the heart of that problem.

If the screening criteria weren't politically motivated, then it follows that at least some Liberal and Progressive groups would have been caught up in this mess as well. Were they?

These abuses involved enough people and enough communication that there should be evidence. The super PAC donors that began telling stories today of their tax records being made public can establish circumstantial evidence. There will be a documentary record of the 501(c) applicants who were abused. Investigators can trace these cases to specific clerks and supervisors who can be deposed under oath.

And if by some miracle the Washington press digs into this story they will shake out some whistle blowers. The problem with criminal conspiracies is that by necessity they require more than one person to effect. Almost always there are weak links who will rat everybody out for immunity.