WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is investigating the Internal Revenue Service for targeting tea party groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax exempt status, Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday, widening a probe that includes investigations by three committees in Congress.
Ineffective management at the IRS allowed agents to improperly target tea party groups for more than 18 moths, concluded one investigation, by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. The inspector general’s report, released Tuesday, lays much of the blame on IRS supervisors in Washington who oversaw a group of specialists in Cincinnati who screened applications for tax exempt status.
The report does not indicate that Washington initiated the targeting of conservative groups. But it does say a top supervisor in Washington did not adequately supervise agents in the field even after she learned the agents were acting improperly.
Holder said he ordered the FBI to investigate Friday — the day the IRS publicly acknowledged that it had singled out conservative groups.
“Those (actions) were, I think, as everyone can agree, if not criminal, they were certainly outrageous and unacceptable,” Holder said. “But we are examining the facts to see if there were criminal violations.”
Three congressional committees already are investigating the IRS for singling out tea party and other conservative groups during the 2010 congressional elections and the 2012 presidential election. But Holder’s announcement takes the matter to another level, if investigators are able to prove that laws were broken.
Holder said he wasn’t sure which laws may have been broken.
The agency started targeting groups with “Tea Party,” ‘’Patriots” or “9/12 Project” in their applications for tax exempt status in March 2010, the inspector general’s report said. Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax exempt organizations, was briefed on the matter in June 2011.
Within days, she ordered agents to change the criteria for singling out groups to a more generic “organizations involved with political, lobbying, or advocacy.” But by January 2012, agents started singling out groups that promoted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Agents made the changes “without executive approval because they believed the July 2011 criteria were too broad,” the report said.
IRS agents were trying to determine whether the political activities of such groups disqualified them for tax-exempt status. These groups were claiming tax-exempt status as organizations promoting social welfare. Unlike other charitable groups, they can engage in political activity. But politics cannot be their primary mission.
It is up to the IRS to make the determination.
But by using improper criteria, the IRS targeted some groups, even though there were no indications that they engaged in significant political activities, the report said. Other non-tea party groups that had significant political activities were not screened, the report said.
Ineffective management at the IRS allowed agents to improperly target tea party groups for more than 18 moths, concluded one investigation, by the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. The inspector general’s report, released Tuesday, lays much of the blame on IRS supervisors in Washington who oversaw a group of specialists in Cincinnati who screened applications for tax exempt status.
The report does not indicate that Washington initiated the targeting of conservative groups. But it does say a top supervisor in Washington did not adequately supervise agents in the field even after she learned the agents were acting improperly.
Holder said he ordered the FBI to investigate Friday — the day the IRS publicly acknowledged that it had singled out conservative groups.
“Those (actions) were, I think, as everyone can agree, if not criminal, they were certainly outrageous and unacceptable,” Holder said. “But we are examining the facts to see if there were criminal violations.”
Three congressional committees already are investigating the IRS for singling out tea party and other conservative groups during the 2010 congressional elections and the 2012 presidential election. But Holder’s announcement takes the matter to another level, if investigators are able to prove that laws were broken.
Holder said he wasn’t sure which laws may have been broken.
The agency started targeting groups with “Tea Party,” ‘’Patriots” or “9/12 Project” in their applications for tax exempt status in March 2010, the inspector general’s report said. Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax exempt organizations, was briefed on the matter in June 2011.
Within days, she ordered agents to change the criteria for singling out groups to a more generic “organizations involved with political, lobbying, or advocacy.” But by January 2012, agents started singling out groups that promoted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Agents made the changes “without executive approval because they believed the July 2011 criteria were too broad,” the report said.
IRS agents were trying to determine whether the political activities of such groups disqualified them for tax-exempt status. These groups were claiming tax-exempt status as organizations promoting social welfare. Unlike other charitable groups, they can engage in political activity. But politics cannot be their primary mission.
It is up to the IRS to make the determination.
But by using improper criteria, the IRS targeted some groups, even though there were no indications that they engaged in significant political activities, the report said. Other non-tea party groups that had significant political activities were not screened, the report said.