IRS Reveals Over 400 Conservative and Tea Party Groups Were Targeted in Scandal
Back in 2013, the IRS claimed the number of conservative groups targeted in the run up to the 2012 election was under 300, now we know different.
The Washington Times reports:
IRS finally reveals list of tea party groups targeted for extra scrutiny
More than three years after it admitted to targeting tea party groups for intrusive scrutiny, the IRS has finally released a near-complete list of the organizations it snagged in a political dragnet.
The tax agency filed the list last month as part of a court case after a series of federal judges, fed up with what they said was the agency’s stonewalling, ordered it to get a move on. The case is a class-action lawsuit, so the list of names is critical to knowing the scope of those who would have a claim against the IRS.
But even as it answers some questions, the list raises others, including exactly when the targeting stopped, and how broadly the tax agency drew its net when it went after nonprofits for unusual scrutiny.
The government released names of 426 organizations. Another 40 were not released as part of the list because they had already opted out of being part of the class-action suit.
That total is much higher than the 298 groups the IRS‘ inspector general identified back in May 2013, when investigators first revealed the agency had been subjecting applications to long — potentially illegal — delays, and forcing them to answer intrusive questions about their activities. Tea party and conservative groups said they was the target of unusually heavy investigations and longer delays,
Edward D. Greim, the lawyer who’s pursuing the case on behalf of NorCal Tea Party Patriots and other members of the class, said the list also could have ballooned toward the end of the targeting as the IRS, once it knew it was being investigated, snagged more liberal groups in its operations to try to soften perceptions of political bias…
Sixty of the groups on the list released last month have the word “tea” in their name, 33 have “patriot,” eight refer to the Constitution, and 13 have “912” in their name — which is the monicker of a movement started by conservatives. Another 26 group names refer to “liberty,” though that list does include some groups that are not discernibly conservative in orientation.
The media has pretty much stopped reporting on this scandal and that’s amazing if you stop to think about it. This is an actual thing that happened.
On Obama’s watch, the IRS targeted groups funded and run by taxpayers. An agency they fund was used against them by their own government for political purposes to sway an election.
Can you even imagine the outcry if George Bush or any other Republican had done this to liberal groups like Move On or Code Pink?
