Posted on 06/17/2013 6:13:48 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Internal Revenue Service employees in Ohio, who singled out conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status for extra scrutiny, likely did not consider the political implications, an IRS official in Washington has told congressional investigators.
Providing additional details about the worst crisis to hit the IRS in years, tax agency official Holly Paz told investigators she was concerned when she learned that IRS employees were singling out groups with "Tea Party" and other key words in their names.
Paz is the most senior IRS official to be extensively interviewed by investigators.
A mid-level official in Washington before she was put on administrative leave, Paz worked for the director of the tax-exempt unit.
Paz said she was worried the practice of flagging certain groups for scrutiny, which she said was not politically motivated, "might give the impression that there was ... some bias," Paz said in the interview last month. Reuters has reviewed the interview transcript.
Some IRS employees in Cincinnati were screening non-profit groups' applications for tax-exempt status and chose some applications from Tea Party-aligned groups for closer scrutiny.
In doing so, Paz said, the employees likely did not consider that their decisions and practices could be perceived as politically motivated. "They are not as sensitive as we would like them to be as to how things might appear," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
... ah... so the problem was “optics”.
Of course not. Having to answer detailed, intrusive, and difficult questions in the time period leading up to an election had no political implications whatsoever. /s
If their lips are moving, they’re lying. With so much blatant, unbelievable lying, who but a moron would think anyone in this administration is credible?
Sorry, but this doesn't even pass the laugh test, much less the smell test.
Doesn’t pass the smell test, Ms. Paz...
More Dem leaks. Boehner is such a weak POS.
Too bad that we need laws in effect to protect innocent people form federal bureaucracies. It goes to show that they do not understand individuals rights and their responsibilities to all peoples rights. Liberals are not good for America.
The very first sentence in this article is a damned lie
It was the white house that ordered this, not some rogue employees in Cincinnati
Uh, that’s the reason for the Bill of Rights, to protect people from the government
They put Tea Party groups under a magnifying glass ... just like a little boy burning some ants with one.
On the news reports on the radio this morning it looks like the administration has given up on the idea that it was a few rogue agents in Cincinnati doing this, but that everyone was susceptible to the extra scrutiny, not just Tea Party groups. I wonder if the press will swallow that or if they will ask which left wing groups where asked how they prayed.
How about the “violent backlash for election tampering” angle? They must have overlooked that as well.
Um, right...
But hoped that it would come to the notice of the higher ups and result in a nice annual effectiveness report and maybe a promotion. They all knew and shared the Obama dream of "Dictatorship of the Ruling Class".
If only black groups - or ONLY gay groups had been singled out would the MSM buy this crap about them not knowing?
“likely did not consider the political implications,”
Flat out bald face lie.
Holly Paz Cant Understand Normal Thinking.
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