FBI Opens Criminal Probe of IRS Screening Procedures

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that he has ordered the FBI to investigate whether the Internal Revenue Service’s heightened scrutiny of conservative organizations applying for nonprofit status broke any laws, Reuters and The Washington Post report.

Also on Tuesday, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration issued a report castigating the tax agency’s office of exempt organizations for poor management, organizational disarray, and using “inappropriate criteria” in screening advocacy groups seeking 501(c)(4) designations. Auditors dismissed IRS officials’ explanation that agents turned to the use of keywords such as “Tea Party” and “patriot” in an effort to identify overtly political groups when facing a huge increase in requests for 501(c)(4) status.

Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller wrote in a column published Tuesday in USA Today that the agency “should have done a better job” of handling that deluge but had no partisan intent in scrutinizing applicants. He said the IRS installed new procedures last year to ensure more even-handed and faster screening.

The IRS asked some Democratic-leaning groups the same questions about their activities and donors as it did of Tea Party organizations, and one liberal group had its application for tax-exempt status denied, according to Bloomberg.