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On Tuesday, the new head of the IRS apologized to conservative groups that were targeted by the agency.
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen’s remarks came while testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee. Koskinen, who was not in charge of the agency at the time of the unfolding scandal, said that such targeting would be “intolerable,” and he assured the House subcommittee that there is no ongoing targeting. “It won't happen going forward,” Koskinen said. “And to the extent that people suffered accordingly, I apologize for that.”
The comments from the Commissioner were not as brash as President Obama’s were on Sunday when he told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that there was “not even a smidgen of corruption” by the IRS.
IRS Commissioner Apologizes for Targeting of Conservative Groups
The Obama administration’s Treasury Department and former IRS official Lois Lerner conspired to draft new 501(c)(4) regulations to restrict the activity of conservative groups in a way that would not be disclosed publicly, according to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
The Treasury Department and Lerner started devising the new rules “off-plan,” meaning that their plans would not be published on the public schedule. They planned the new rules in 2012, while the IRS targeting of conservative groups was in full swing, and not after the scandal broke in order to clarify regulations as the administration has suggested.
The rules would place much more stringent controls on what would be considered political activity by the IRS, effectively limiting the standard practices of a wide array of non-profit groups.
Cleta Mitchell told Congress today the IRS is still targeting conservative groups. Mitchell also said the "ongoing" DOJ investigation is a complete sham.
"I want to make three primary points here. First, the IRS scandal is real. It's not pretend, it's real. Number two, the IRS scandal is not just a bunch of bone-headed bureaucrats in some remote office contrary to what the President of the United States told the American People on Sunday. And, number 3, the IRS scandal is not over. It is continuing to this day. And, the Department of Justice Investigation is a sham. It is a nonexistent investigation."
King Street Patriots founder Catherine Engelbrecht, one of many conservatives who claim they were unfairly targeted by the IRS when applying for tax-exempt status, told Congress Thursday that she is “more determined ever than before to stand before you and to all of America and say that I will not retreat.”
[video.in.article]
Witness at IRS Hearing: ‘I Will Not Retreat; I Will Not Surrender’
xuenchen
More damning testimony in front of Congress !!
Cleta Mitchell told Congress today the IRS is still targeting conservative groups. Mitchell also said the "ongoing" DOJ investigation is a complete sham.
"I want to make three primary points here. First, the IRS scandal is real. It's not pretend, it's real. Number two, the IRS scandal is not just a bunch of bone-headed bureaucrats in some remote office contrary to what the President of the United States told the American People on Sunday. And, number 3, the IRS scandal is not over. It is continuing to this day. And, the Department of Justice Investigation is a sham. It is a nonexistent investigation."
Obama is surely sizzling right about now.