Crenshaw "Deeply Troubled" by IRS Admission of Singling Out Conservative Groups

Statement

Congressman Ander Crenshaw, Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee of Financial Services and Government Affairs, which oversees the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), today (5/10) said he was "deeply troubled" by the agency's admission that conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status had been singled out for further agency review in 2012.

Crenshaw issued the following statement:

"I am deeply, deeply troubled by the IRS's chilling admission that it singled out conservative groups. This unacceptable conduct is reminiscent of earlier times when the IRS was used to target political enemies. This behavior has no place in our society today.

"In 2012, this subcommittee took direct testimony from the former IRS Commissioner who essentially claimed the opposite - that no targeting had occurred. Yet, today, the IRS Director of the Exempt Organizations Division admitted that more than 70 organizations with "Tea Party' or "Patriot' tags had been singled out. Congress and the American taxpayer deserve better. That's why my subcommittee will thoroughly review this case to make sure all Americans are treated equally regardless of their political association."

BACKGROUND:

On Friday, May 10, Lois Lerner, Director of the Exempt Organization Division at the IRS, apologized for the IRS's action targeting conservative groups for additional scrutiny of their tax-exempt status applications in 2012. Earlier in 2012 during a House Appropriations Financial Services subcommittee hearing, former IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman stated, "when we decide to do an examination, we pride ourselves on being a non-political, non-partisan agency," later adding "This work has nothing to do with election cycles and politics …So this notion that we are targeting anyone, I think, is off." Crenshaw represents Florida's Fourth Congressional District and began serving as subcommittee chair in January of 2013.

Source