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IRS apologizes for targeting conservative groups

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER - May. 10 11:32 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service inappropriately flagged conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status, a top IRS official said Friday.

Organizations were singled out because they included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups.

In some cases, groups were asked for their list of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said.

"That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive and it was inappropriate. That's not how we go about selecting cases for further review," Lerner said at a conference sponsored by the American Bar Association.

"The IRS would like to apologize for that," she added.

Lerner said the practice was initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias. After her talk, she told The AP that no high level IRS officials knew about the practice. She did not say when they found out.

Many conservative groups complained during the election that they were being harassed by the IRS. They accused the agency of frustrating their attempts to become tax exempt by sending them lengthy, intrusive questionnaires.

The forms, which the groups made available at the time, sought information about group members' political activities, including details of their postings on social networking websites and about family members.

Certain tax-exempt charitable groups can conduct political activities but it cannot be their primary activity.

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told Congress in March 2012 that the IRS was not targeting groups based on their political views.

"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.

Shulman was appointed by President George W. Bush. His 6-year term ended in November. President Barack Obama has yet to nominate a successor. The agency is now being run by acting Commissioner Steven Miller.

How the hell can anyone say that conservative groups, with things like "Tea Party", or "Patriot" in their names being inappropriately flagged wasn't politically motivated? They targeted those groups on a lark? Because someone preferred coffee to tea? Because we have British side Revolutionary War sympathizers inside the IRS?

Yeah, I'm sure that there were no political considerations involved.

They apologized, so its all good now.

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Lerner said the practice was initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias.

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Wow. It's starting to look like the conspiracy theorists might be on to something.

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except for the fact that everything is explained right here?

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Because you have decided that the head of the IRS would never lie or anything to protect anybody higher up who may have known or worked to initiate this beyond some low-level schmoe's in Cincy... and I'm sure this is a full disclosure of the facts. Because any time the government screws up, the very first statement is typically an all-inclusive statement of the facts and there is nothing more to see here... move along now.

Evidently Cincinnati is the epicenter of the Vast Anti-Right Wing Conspiracy because, IIRC, that was where the Board of Elections worker voted 6-8 times for Obama.

I didn't know you went in for conspiracy, DC. That's a little disappointing. All right, I'll indulge you. What else do we have here other than government employees abusing their power for the sake of political bias? Even if you think it is possible there is more to the story, the appropriate stance is to withhold judgment until the facts are revealed. This is where the conspiracy people make their mistake.

But as always, my mind is open. Send me a message if more on the conspiracy breaks.

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the appropriate stance is to withhold judgment until the facts are revealed.

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In your previous post you indicated that all of the facts had been revealed because this one person issued a statement... I was just hypothesizing that there quite possibly could be more facts that had not yet been revealed because the government isn't typically very forthcoming with facts when it's not going to make them look good.

If that disappoints you and puts me on your tin-foil hat wearing list, then so be it.

It does appear that the IRS came out and called foul on themselves, which is a start in leading me to believe that this is an isolated incident.

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Traditionally, a conspiracy theory involves an elaborate, orchestrated plan to achieve some nefarious end; e.g. the government planning 9/11.

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A conspiracy does not have to involve people at the highest level and it does also not have to end in a catastrophic event such as 9/11.

If IRS agents, even low level ones, were auditing certain political groups disproportionately in an effort to derail them, silence their message, or intimidate them in order to gain favor with a different political group or to possibly influence the outcome of an election... then that is a conspiracy...

Your colloquial use of the term "conspiracy theorist" would apply to somebody who immediately tried to link this to the head of the IRS or even the President or tried to claim that this is the reason Obama won the election... so to clarify, I'm not one of those... I am however, one who believes that it is highly possible that people slightly above these low level employees may have known this was going on and may have even endorsed it... I doubt anybody will ever dig deep enough to find out.

Heck, it took 8 months to get around to trying to figure out how/why 4 people were killed in one of our embassies, I doubt this is going to rank high on the political "Things to do" list.

Read this article. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/201...akes/?hpt=hp_t2

Buried in there is the comment "it took the threat of legal action for the IRS to make this admission." That's from Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ (American Center for Law and Justice)

Here is a copy of an IRS letter sent to one group. Read through it. See if you think it is fair. http://c0391070.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/pdf/irs-questions-aclj-tea-party-clients.pdf

You think ACORN had to do all that?

Alright, my bad. Like I said, I was responding to someone else who was talking about "conspiracy theorists" which is different from what you're talking about. As for my comment about the story all being there, again I was responding to the conspiracy theory comment, and so I meant that, whether or not the IRS boss is lying to cover somebody, it still only amounts to an abuse of power. Lying about that doesn't equal conspiracy theory. I guess that's what I get for flippantly replying to somebody's one-liner.

jc...

Not included in the pasted text (I don't know if it was in the linked article at the time of posting but its in there now) is that the groups that were flagged were political groups seeking tax exempt status as social welfare organizations who, according to the article, are allowed political involvement, but it is not permitted to be their ¢rimary purpose. Groups flagged because of the terms "tea party" and "patriot" made up 25% of all groups flagged.

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So, it doesn't bother you that federal workers committed crimes, whether they were doing them on their own or directed by others to do so?

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I never said it didn't bother me. I was only responding to the notion that the "conspiracy theorists might be right," whatever that means.

Okay, for the final time, this is what I was responding to:

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Wow. It's starting to look like the conspiracy theorists might be on to something.

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Now, you are correct in that this is semantical. We have "conspiracy" and "conspiracy theory." I think there is a difference between these two. My original comment was assuming the second. All subsequent posters have been using the first. I already wrote in a response to no_logo_required that I accept the application of the first term to this situation. But I still maintain that my original post was accurate according to the specific use of "conspiracy theory" in that post.

I think it all depends upon what the meaning of the "is" is.

Well, there are three different meanings for the word "is"--identity, predication, and existence. Thanks for supporting my point.

Jc

How do you have a conspiracy about something that is fact? The government admited to auditing companies based on their political affiliation. Then they attempted to make excuses for it.

Hmm... I'll say this: I don't work for the IRS, but being a federal employee, almost everything we do is tied to direction that comes from above. If I were to step out of bounds, I would get reprimanded pretty quickly.

Just clicking. . .

What if this was the IRS under he Bush admin going after Media Mattesr, Center for American Progress, and MoveOn.org, MSNBC, or any other left wing orgnaization? What would people like Mantis be saying then? Hmmm. . .

What has me scratching my head is , why the confession ?

It appears to reach a bit higher than just a few "low-level employees" in Cincinnati ...

AP Exclusive: IRS knew tea party targeted in 2011

May 11, 2013

By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as 2011, according to a draft of an inspector general's report obtained by The Associated Press that seemingly contradicts public statements by the IRS commissioner.

The IRS apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was "inappropriate" targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. The agency blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware.

But on June 29, 2011, Lois G. Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, learned at a meeting that groups were being targeted, according to the watchdog's report. At the meeting, she was told that groups with "Tea Party," `'Patriot" or "9/12 Project" in their names were being flagged for additional and often burdensome scrutiny, the report says.

The 9/12 Project is a group started by conservative TV personality Glenn Beck. In a statement to the AP, Beck suggested that the revelations were hardly news to him and other conservatives.

"In February 2012, TheBlaze first reported what the IRS now admits to - that they unfairly targeted conservative groups including the 9/12 project," Beck said, citing his website and TV network. "It is nice to see everyone else playing catch-up and finally asking the same questions that TheBlaze started raising over a year ago."

Lerner instructed agents to change the criteria for flagging groups "immediately," the report says.

The Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration is expected to release the results of a nearly yearlong investigation in the coming week. The AP obtained part of the draft report, which has been shared with congressional aides.

Among the other revelations, on Aug. 4, 2011, staffers in the IRS' Rulings and Agreements office "held a meeting with chief counsel so that everyone would have the latest information on the issue."

On Jan, 25, 2012, the criteria for flagging suspect groups was changed to, "political action type organizations involved in limiting/expanding Government, educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, social economic reform/movement," the report says.

While this was happening, several committees in Congress were writing numerous letters IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman to express concern because tea party groups were complaining of IRS harassment.

In Shulman's responses, he did not acknowledge targeting of tea party groups. At a congressional hearing March 22, 2012, Shulman was adamant in his denials.

"There's absolutely no targeting. This is the kind of back and forth that happens to people" who apply for tax-exempt status, Shulman said at the House Ways and Means subcommittee hearing.

The portion of the draft report reviewed by the AP does not say whether Shulman or anyone else in the Obama administration outside the IRS was informed of the targeting. It is standard procedure for agency heads to consult with staff before responding to congressional inquiries, but it is unclear how much information Shulman sought.

The IRS has not said when Shulman found out that Tea Party groups were targeted.

Shulman was appointed by President George W. Bush, a Republican. His 6-year term ended in November. President Barack Obama has yet to nominate a successor. The agency is now run by an acting commissioner, Steven Miller.

The IRS said in a statement Saturday that the agency believes the timeline in the IG's report is correct, and supports what officials said Friday.

"IRS senior leadership was not aware of this level of specific details at the time of the March 2012 hearing," the statement said. "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."

Lerner's position is three levels below the commissioner.

"The timeline supports what the IRS acknowledged on Friday that mistakes were made," the statement continued. "There were not partisan reasons behind this."

Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's oversight subcommittee, said the report "raises serious questions as to who at IRS, Treasury and in the administration knew about this, why this practice was allowed to continue for as long as it did, and how widespread it was."

"This timeline reveals at least two extremely unethical actions by the IRS. One, as early as 2010, they targeted groups for political purposes. Two, they willfully and knowingly lied to Congress for years despite being aware that Congress was investigating this practice," Boustany said.

"This is an outrageous abuse of power. Going after organizations for referencing the Bill of Rights or expressing the intent to make this country a better place is repugnant," Boustany added. "There is no excuse for this behavior."

Several congressional committees have promised investigations, including the Ways and Means Committee, which plans to hold a hearing.

"The admission by the agency that it targeted American taxpayers based on politics is both shocking and disappointing," said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. "We will hold the IRS accountable for its actions."

The group Tea Party Patriots said the revelation was proof that the IRS had lied to Congress and the public when Schulman said there had been no targeting of tea party groups.

"We must know how many more lies they have been telling and how high up the chain the cover-up goes," Jenny Beth Martin, national coordinator for the group Tea Party Patriots, said in a statement Saturday.

"It appears the IRS committed crimes and violated our ability to exercise our First Amendment right to free speech. A simple apology is not sufficient reparation for violating the constitutional rights of United States citizens. Therefore, Tea Party Patriots rejects the apology from the Internal Revenue Service," Martin said. "We are, however, encouraged to hear that Congress plans to investigate. Those responsible must be held accountable and resign or be terminated for their actions."

On Friday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the administration expected the inspector general to conduct a thorough investigation, but he brushed aside calls for the White House itself to investigate.

Many conservative groups complained during the 2012 election that they were being harassed by the IRS. They accused the agency of frustrating their attempts to become tax exempt by sending them lengthy, intrusive questionnaires.

The forms, which the groups have made available, sought information about group members' political activities, including details of their postings on social networking websites and about family members.

In some cases, the IRS acknowledged, agents inappropriately asked for lists of donors.

There has been a surge of politically active groups claiming tax-exempt status in recent elections - conservative and liberal. Among the highest profile are Republican Karl Rove's group Crossroads GPS and the liberal Moveon.org.

These groups claim tax-exempt status under section 501 (c) (4) of the federal tax code, which is for social welfare groups. Unlike other charitable groups, these organizations are allowed to participate in political activities, but their primary activity must be social welfare.

That determination is up to the IRS.

The number of groups filing for this tax-exempt status more than doubled from 2010 to 2012, to more than 3,400. To handle the influx, the IRS centralized its review of these applications in an office in Cincinnati.

Lerner said on Friday this was done to develop expertise among staffers and consistency in their reviews. As part of the review, staffers look for signs that groups are participating in political activity. If so, IRS agents take a closer look to make sure that politics isn't the group's primary activity.

As part of this process, agents in Cincinnati came up with a list of things to look for in an application. As part of the list, they included the words "tea party" and "patriot," Lerner said.

"It's the line people that did it without talking to managers," Lerner told the AP on Friday. "They're IRS workers, they're revenue agents."

In all, about 300 groups were singled out for additional review, Lerner said. Of those, about a quarter were singled out because they had "tea party" or "patriot" somewhere in their applications.

Lerner said 150 of the cases have been closed and no group had its tax-exempt status revoked, though some withdrew their applications.

© 2013 The Associated Press.

IRS Inquisition Update

By Kevin Williamson
May 11, 2013 9:40 AM

Along with targeting tea-party groups, the IRS may also have given extra-special attention to the tax-exempt status of some Jewish groups for political reasons.

From the Jewish Press:

The passionately pro-Israel organization Z STREET filed a lawsuit against the IRS, claiming it had been told by an IRS agent that because the organization was “connected to Israel,” its application for tax-exempt status would receive additional scrutiny. This admission was made in response to a query about the lengthy reveiw of Z STREET’s tax exempt status application.

In addition, the IRS agent told a Z STREET representative that the applications of some of those Israel-related organizations have been assigned to “a special unit in the D.C. office to determine whether the organization’s activities contradict the Administration’s public policies.” . . .

And at least one purely religious Jewish organization, one not focused on Israel, was the recipient of bizarre and highly inappropriate questions about Israel. Those questions also came from the same non-profit division of the IRS at issue for inappropriately targeting politically conservative groups. The IRS required that Jewish organization to state “whether [it] supports the existence of the land of Israel,” and also demanded the organization “[d]escribe [its] religious belief system toward the land of Israel.”

More bureaucratic snafus?

I'm waiting for someone to connect Obama to these IRS actions.

Why wasn't any IRS employee terminated?