IRS Scrutinized Groups for Advocating Smaller Government

On Sunday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has discovered that the IRS did not merely target groups containing the words “Tea Party” or “patriots” – the IRS gave heightened scrutiny for any conservative groups “raising political concerns over government spending, debt and taxes or even for advocating making America a better place to live.” Political leanings were the issue, not merely group names, a direct rebuttal to the IRS’ statement last week that screening was apolitical in nature.

The inspector general’s report is scheduled for release later this week. It will reportedly contain exculpatory for the Obama administration, noting that the IRS itself developed these anti-conservative criteria.

Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013).