GOP Lawmakers Say IRS Gave Data on Nonprofits to FBI

House Republicans investigating the Internal Revenue Service say the agency gave a 1.1 million-page database on tax-exempt groups to the FBI in 2010 as the Justice Department was weighing a probe of electioneering by nonprofits, writes The Wall Street Journal.

In a letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, Reps. Darrell Issa and Jim Jordan said they were “extremely troubled” to learn of the transfer earlier this month, when the Justice Department turned over the 21-disk database to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in response to a subpoena. The lawmakers said the disks contain confidential taxpayer information.

The committee is investigating alleged IRS targeting of conservative organizations seeking tax-exempt status and whether the tax agency acted inappropriately in coordinating with the Justice Department to probe politicking by nonprofit groups.

The IRS said the material it shared is public and “easily and routinely accessible” but that 33 of the 12,000 tax returns on the disks inadvertently included “some nonpublic information.” The 33 groups represented a wide spectrum of organizations, the agency said. A Justice official said the department made no use of the database.