The Big Story:
The Internal Revenue Service’s screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than has been previously disclosed, the new head of the agency said Monday.
In a conference call with reporters, Danny Werfel said that after becoming acting IRS chief last month, he discovered wide-ranging and improper terms on lists screeners were still using to choose groups for careful examinations. He did not specify what terms were on the lists, but said he suspended the use of all such lists immediately.
“There was a wide-ranging set of categories and cases that spanned a broad spectrum” on the lists, Werfel said. He added that his aides found those lists contained “inappropriate criteria that was in use.”
Werfel’s comments suggest the IRS may have been targeting groups other than tea party and other conservative organizations for tough examinations to see if they qualify. The agency has been under fire since last month for targeting those groups.
His comments also indicate that the use of inappropriate terms on such lists lasted longer than has been revealed previously. A report last month by a Treasury Department inspector general said agency officials abolished targeting of conservative groups with those lists in May 2012.
Werfel said preliminary results of an examination he has conducted of his agency have so far found no indication of improper screening beyond the IRS offices that examines groups seeking tax-exempt status.
I am shocked to find out that gambling has been going on in this establishment.
This administration accomplished objectives against its enemies that Nixon only dreamed of.
The difference between this and Watergate is that this time the media is playing defense. I am old enough to remember the Watergate summer of ’74…and when the dam broke, the MSM could not be vile enough to Nixon and his crew (deserved). This time their guy the messiah Obama has to be protected. And they will.
Danny Werfel, acting head of the IRS, today:
Thus far, neither has anybody else.
Really? I guess whether or not you can find something depends somewhat on how hard (or *IF*) you look. Because it appears there is an Inspector General who disagrees…
http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2013reports/201310053fr.pdf
Kinda sorta sounds like intentional wrongdoing to me…
And that somebody found it…
I also highlighted the ‘and other organizations’ because frankly its wrong (IMO anyway) to target the way they did regardless of a group’s political leanings.
If they are trying to say the was an equivalence between liberal and conservative groups scrutiny I think that one won’t hold water very long. CNN tried selling that this morning with John King stressing that liberal groups were in the same boat as conservative ones as far as the IRS was concerned. The wheels are already coming off that one. I doubt ol John will be so enthused to report it though.
http://www.jammiewf.com/2013/no-liberal-groups-were-not-targeted-by-irs/
and
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/351930/lookout-list-not-much-broader-originally-thought-contrary-reports-eliana-johnson