Audit: Criticism of US brought IRS scrutiny

In the past two years, the IRS has focused on nonprofit groups that criticized the government, an internal audit says.

WASHINGTON— Atvarious times in the past two years, Internal Revenue Service officials targeted nonprofit groups that criticized the government and sought to educate people about the Constitution, according to documents in an audit conducted by the agency’s inspector general.

The documents, obtained by The Washington Post from a congressional aide, show that on June 29, 2011, IRS staffers held a briefing with senior agency official Lois Lerner in which they described giving special attention to instances where “statements in the case file criticize how the country is being run.” Lerner raised objections and the agency revised its criteria aweek later.

But later, the IRS applied a new political test to groups that applied for tax-exempt status as “social welfare” groups, according to the document. On Jan. 15, 2012, the agency decided to target “political action-type organizations involved in limiting/ expanding Government, educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights, social economic reform movement,” according to the appendix in the InspectorGeneral report, which has been requested by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and has not been released.

The new revelations are likely to intensify criticism of the IRS, which has been under fire since agency officials acknowledged they had deliberately targeted groups with “tea party” or “patriot” in their name for heightened scrutiny.

During an appearance Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, described the practice as “absolutely chilling,” and called on President Barack Obama to condemn the effort.