WASHINGTON: Senior officials at the US tax agency knew
agents were targeting conservative political groups as early as 2011, according
to a draft of an inspector general's report that seemingly contradicts public
statements by the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.
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.
"Tea party" and "Patriot" are favorite
terms of the small-government conservative movement that has emerged in recent
years and is highly critical of President Barack Obama. The "9/12
Project" is a group started by conservative TV personality Glenn Beck.
The revelation that the IRS targeted those groups is
becoming a new headache for the Obama administration, which is already
confronting a highly polarized, partisan atmosphere in Washington.
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.
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 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.
The portion of the draft report reviewed by the Associated
Press 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.
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