Treasury Inspector's IRS Report Blames Lax Management

Evaluation of agency's targeting of Tea Party groups is not gentle

On Friday of last week a representative of the IRS admitted that the agency had singled out conservative groups seeking nonprofit status for extra scrutiny. A new report released this afternoon by the Office of Inspector General of the Treasury--which you can read in full below--confirms that Tea Party groups were in fact being targeted for their politics. Here's the summary of findings: 

The IRS used inappropriate criteria that identified for review Tea Party and other organizations applying for tax-exempt status based upon their names or policy positions instead of indications of potential political campaign intervention.  Ineffective management: 1) allowed inappropriate criteria to be developed and stay in place for more than 18 months, 2) resulted in substantial delays in processing certain applications, and 3) allowed unnecessary information requests to be issued.