Rep. Yoder Statement Regarding IRS Targeting Conservative Groups for Auditing

Press Release

Congressman Kevin Yoder reacted today after the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) apologized on Friday for targeting conservative political groups during the 2012 elections. The IRS acknowledged flagging conservative political organizations with titles that included the words "tea party" and "patriot" for heightened surveillance to investigate whether the groups were violating their tax-exempt status. Rep. Yoder made the following statement:

"The revelation about the IRS targeting specific groups based on political affiliation is appalling. The Constitution guarantees the freedom for all Americans to not be targeted or persecuted based on political beliefs or speech. IRS officials may be pursuing a political agenda and overreaching in a way that is compromising American's constitutional rights.

"This clear violation is even more troubling because high-level IRS officials now claim to have known this kind of behavior was going on. During a Congressional hearing last year, I specifically asked then-IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman about the possibility the IRS was targeting political groups. He assured me that safeguards were in place to ensure this practice did not happen and would not be tolerated.

"Given that IRS documents recently revealed that the agency has a policy of engaging in warrantless email surveillance, I am outraged the agency has now admitted to singling out certain political groups and donors for heightened surveillance. Because of this pattern, I join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in calling for a full investigation into the IRS to ensure this blatant trampling on the constitutional rights of American citizens does not continue."

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