Newly released documents appear to further undermine the idea that Tea Party groups were the only ones given extra scrutiny by the IRS for potential political activity.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, obtained and has released a PowerPoint presentation and minutes from an IRS workshop on July 28, 2010, instructing agents to flag applications for tax-exempt status from "progressive" groups as well as those with "Tea Party," "patriot" or "9/12" in their names. Another document shows that "Occupy" groups were later added to a list of organizations to be tapped for extra scrutiny.
In a letter to the committee's chairman, California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, Cummings says the documents "raise serious questions about the Inspector General's report, his testimony before Congress, and his subsequent assertions in letters to Members of Congress."
In mid-May, the IRS inspector general's audit found the agency used "inappropriate criteria" that singled out "Tea Party and other organizations applying for tax-exempt status based upon their names or policy positions" rather than looking at their activities. Groups seeking 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status can engage in only a limited amount of campaign activity, and those seeking charitable 501(c)(3) status can't get involved in campaigns at all. In testimony and subsequent letters to members of Congress, Inspector General J. Russell George said his team found no evidence that "progressives" was a term used to refer cases for potential scrutiny.
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