‘Ex-IRS Director: Tea Party Groups Deserved Scrutiny, But IRS Bungled the Job”
Marcus Owens talks to Mother Jones.
Category Archives: tax law and election law
“IRS Delay in Disclosing Groups’ Scrutiny Focus of Probes”
Key point from Bloomberg: “The widening inquiries into the Internal Revenue Service are focusing less on why employees singled out small-government groups for scrutiny and more on agency executives who didn’t inform Congress earlier.”
“IRS Scandal’s Central Figure, Lois Lerner, Described as ‘Apolitical’”
“In IRS Scandal, Echoes of Watergate”
George Will column which ends with an endorsement, of sorts, for divided government.
“IRS Sent Same Letter to Democrats That Fed Tea Party Row: Taxes”
Bloomberg reports [corrected link].
“IRS approved liberal groups while Tea Party in limbo”
USA Today:
In February 2010, the Champaign Tea Party in Illinois received approval of its tax-exempt status from the IRS in 90 days, no questions asked.
That was the month before the Internal Revenue Service started singling out Tea… Continue reading
“Management Flaws at I.R.S. Cited in Tea Party Scrutiny”
Must-read NYT:
An inspector general’s report issued Tuesday blamed ineffective Internal Revenue Service management in the failure to stop employees from singling out conservative groups for added scrutiny. Congressional aides, meanwhile, sought to determine whether the Obama administration’s knowledge… Continue reading
“Lerner’s name on IRS letter to conservative group”
Politico: “The director of the Internal Revenue Service division under fire for singling out conservative groups sent a 2012 letter under her name to one such group, POLITICO has learned.”
Incompetence Not Malfeasance?
From the IG report:
“Specifically, only first-line management approved references to the Tea Party in the BOLO listing criteria before it was implemented. As a result, inappropriate criteria remained in place for more than 18 months. Determinations Unit employees also… Continue reading
Inspector General May Do Follow Up Audit on How IRS Determines if (c)(4)’s are Engaged in Impermissible Political Activitiy
Very important fn 12 of the report:
A future audit is being considered to assess how the EO function monitors I.R.C. §§ 501(c)(4)–(6) organizations to ensure that political campaign intervention does not constitute their primary activity.
“It’s About Disclosure, Stupid; The larger failing behind the terrible IRS treatment of tea party groups.”
I’ve written this commentary for Slate. It begins:
Let’s not make excuses for the IRS. The agency shouldn’t have subjected conservative groups to special scrutiny. Campaign finance reform groups should have immediately called for hearings when this scandal broke: Imagine… Continue reading
HuffPo Posts Copy of Inspector General Report on IRS Tea Party Targeting
“IRS Official’s Admission Baffled Audience At Tax Panel”
Must read TPM:
“We all just sort of looked at each other and couldn’t quite understand,” Ellen Aprill, a professor at Loyola Law School who was in the audience, told TPM on Monday. “It seemed so odd that it… Continue reading
“IRS Tea Party Targeting Came After Court Rulings Upended Agency Role”
Paul Blumenthal reports for HuffPo.