Even After Hearings, Questions Remain Unanswered About IRS Targeting of Political Groups
Like, whose idea was the scheme?
The question at the heart of this scandal—who at the IRS came up with the list of terms used to flag tea-party applications—is still unanswered.
The just-ousted acting IRS chief, Steven Miller, said he wasn't sure who started it. Ditto for his predecessor, ex-IRS commissioner, Douglas Shulman, who was at the helm of the agency when the targeting happened.
J. Russell George, the Inspector General who reviewed the targeting, concluded that workers in the Cincinnati office developed and implemented the targeting, but he couldn't name names. Similarly, IRS leaders and some Democrats have called this the work of a few "rogue" agents in Cincinnati.
But Republicans in Congress — namely Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif. — says evidence points to involvement from IRS headquarters in Washington..