Republicans Expand I.R.S. Inquiry, With Eye on White House

Representative Dave Camp, Republican of Michigan, the usually mild-mannered chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, set the tone Friday at Congress’s first hearing on the targeting of conservative groups by the I.R.S., laying out details, from the alleged threatening of donors to conservative nonprofit groups to the leaking of confidential I.R.S. documents.


In that context, he said, the screening of Tea Party groups for special scrutiny was not the scandal itself but “just the latest example of a culture of cover-ups — and political intimidation — in this administration.”


“It seems like the truth is hidden from the American people just long enough to make it through an election,” Mr. Camp said.


Republicans raised a long list of issues.


The Republicans also criticized the publication of donors to the National Organization for Marriage, a group opposed to same-sex marriage. That donors list surfaced mysteriously in March 2012 from a whistle-blower whose identity is still unknown.


Linkage to the health care law came through Sarah Hall Ingram, a longtime I.R.S. official... which contained the political targeting effort.


“This is an audit, and it’s helpful,” Representative Tim Griffin, Republican of Arkansas, said of the investigation of I.R.S. targeting... “but it’s the tip of the iceberg.”


The inspector general gave Republicans some fodder Friday when he divulged that he informed the Treasury’s general counsel he was auditing the I.R.S.’s screening of politically active groups seeking tax exemptions on June 4, 2012... That meant Obama administration officials were aware of the matter during the presidential campaign year.

Still, Inspector General J. Russell George’s testimony fueled efforts by Congressional Republicans to ensnare Mr. Obama in the scandals suddenly swirling over the White House.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/18/u...gressional-hearings.html?pagewanted=2&_r=3&hp

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zimmer said:

Someone at the NY Times made a mistake... they hit the send instead of delete button!

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ARealConservative said:

look at the comments section. the readers have no problem with the scandal. the IRS is just doing their job according to that target demographic.

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There Was No Surge in IRS Tax-Exempt Applications in 2010.

Fewer groups sought recognition as 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations that year than in 2009, according to the Treasury Department.

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A huge increase in workload, rather than deliberate targeting, led to "foolish mistakes" and the political discrimination in the Internal Revenue Service cited by an inspector general's report, the agency's outgoing commissioner said Friday.

In his opening remarks Friday, Miller described an IRS division that handles requests for tax exempt status by political groups as overwhelmed by a surge that followed the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision, which greatly expanded the ability of corporations, unions and other organizations to participate in election spending, though not through direct contributions to candidates or parties.

"I think that what happened here was that foolish mistakes were made by people who were trying to be more efficient in their workload selection," Miller said, calling the practices described in the inspector general's report as "intolerable" and a "mistake," but "not an act of partisanship."

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Democrats sought to balance rejection of any perception of political manipulation by the IRS in the case with an effort to portray the situation as a poorly managed increase in demand for tax exempt status by political groups.

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Washington, said the vast majority of the increased applications for tax exempt status after the Citizens United decision were from "far right groups," while fellow Democratic Rep. Richard Neal of Washington said the conservative organizations wanted to be involved politically without revealing donors -- as allowed for the 501 (c) (4) groups under the federal tax code.

"It all started right after Citizens United," McDermott said, adding that political groups "saw the door open" and thought that "we can get in, we can do political advertising."

He described a difference between "stupid mistakes and deliberate mistakes," adding that the IRS officials handling the requests took a shortcut "they deeply regret."

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ARealConservative said:

look at the comments section. the readers have no problem with the scandal. the IRS is just doing their job according to that target demographic.

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Oceandan said:

I thot the best comment from Steven Miller was "these actions were not partisan". ROTFLOLOL Hmmm let's see ONLY conservatives were targeted, ZERO liberals. Yep.....just coincidence right??? Long live the low information voter!

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"When asked the truth and you know the truth and you have a legal responsibility to inform others of the truth but you don't share that truth, what is that called?" Camp asked.

"I always answer questions truthfully, Mr. Camp," Miller replied.

A tense exchange with Rep. Diane Black, a Tennessee Republican, involved Miller's denial that what he called the "listing" of names or phrases that triggered extra scrutiny of exemption requests amounted to political "targeting," the word used in the inspector general's report.

Miller acknowledged that the list of triggering phrases was conservative-based, causing Black to cut him off by declaring: "Then I would say its targeted. You can't have that both ways."

GOP Rep. Devin Nunes of California later asked why Miller resigned if he wasn't personally involved in the improper acts. Miller replied: "I resigned because as the acting commissioner, what happens in the IRS, whether I was personally involved or not, stopped at my desk."

"And so, I should be held accountable for what happens," he said. "Whether I was personally involved or not, a very different question, sir."

Another Republican, Rep. Tom Reed of New York, took exception with Miller's characterization of his resignation, noting it meant he would retire with full benefits and "nothing bad is going to happen to you."

With an incredulous grin, Miller responded: "Nothing bad is happening to me, congressman?"

Reed remained stern-faced, noting Miller continued to get his taxpayer-funded salary.

"You're getting paid for being here today, right?" Reed asked, to which Miller, his smile gone, dryly replied: "Right."

After the hearing, Camp described a "disturbing lack of detail and information" during testimony.

"We're going to continue to pursue this, as a committee, to find out who knew what, when, where, and how these decisions were made and how they were carried out," he said.

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Among the criteria used by IRS officials to flag applications was a "Be On the Look Out" list, which was discontinued in 2012, the report said.

The criteria included:

-- Whether "Tea Party," "Patriots" or "9/12 Project" was referenced in the case file.

-- Whether the issues outlined in the application included government spending, government debt or taxes.

-- Whether there was advocating or lobbying to "make America a better place to live."

-- Whether a statement in the case file criticized how the country is being run.

-- Whether it advocated education about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

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When Miller said he didn’t know about that, Gerlach asked him — in a tone that made it clear it wasn’t optional — to “check all of your records, all of your notes, all of your emails and get back to this committee.”

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Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-MO, issued a video statement Friday in response to reports that the Internal Revenue Service unfairly targeted conservative nonprofit groups.

“I’m mad. It is un-American, it is wrong, and we have to make sure that this gets fixed,” Missouri’s senior senator said. “There’s a reason Lady Justice wears a blindfold in America. That is because in America, we don’t apply the law based on who you are, who you know, or what you believe. We apply the law equally.”

McCaskill went on to say that the targeting of one group based on political beliefs “infuriates” her.

“We should not only fire the head of the IRS, which has occurred, but we’ve got to go down the line and find every single person who had anything to do with this and make sure that they are removed from the IRS and the word goes out that this is unacceptable,” she said. “It is un-American, it is wrong, and it cannot occur again.”

McCaskill concluded by saying many groups claim to be charities while doing political work and that it is a problem which needs to be fixed “but not in a way that highlights one belief over another.”

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