DOJ settles lawsuits over Tea Party targeting by Obama IRS

The Trump administration, after years of litigation, has settled lawsuits with Tea Party and other conservative groups who say they were unfairly targeted by the IRS under the Obama administration.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced early Thursday that the Justice Department had entered into settlements with Tea Party groups whose tax-exempt status was significantly delayed by the IRS dating back to 2013, “based solely on their viewpoint or ideology.”

The settlements involve payments to the plaintiffs and an apology from the IRS.

The targeting scandal drew heavy attention in 2013 when the IRS admitted it applied extra scrutiny to conservative groups applying for nonprofit status. Lois Lerner, then head of the Exempt Organizations unit responsible, became the public face of the scandal, though other IRS officials were involved as well.

Sessions said that groups with names involving “Tea Party” or “Patriots,” or those with specific policy positions concerning government spending, were subject to “inappropriate criteria” to “screen” applications.


“The IRS’s use of these criteria as a basis for heightened scrutiny was wrong and should never have occurred,” Sessions said in a statement Thursday. “It is improper for the IRS to single out groups for different treatment based on their names or ideological positions.”

While the IRS did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment, court documents show that the agency did offer an apology.

“The IRS admits that its treatment of Plaintiffs during the tax-exempt determination process, including screening their applications based on their names or policy positions, subjecting those applications to heightened scrutiny and inordinate delays, and demanding some Plaintiffs’ information that TIGTA determined was unnecessary to the agency’s determination of their tax-exempt status, was wrong,” the IRS said in court documents. “For such treatment, the IRS expresses its sincere apology.”

The Justice Department’s settlement would pay the claims of each of the over 400 groups in the case. The attorneys for the groups said it was “a great day for the First Amendment,” but noted that day “was too long in coming.”

“The Government’s generous settlement with the Class Plaintiffs fully vindicates their claims that the IRS targeted Tea Party and conservative groups based on their viewpoint,” lead counsel for the conservative groups, Eddie Greim, told Fox News in an email. “However, like Lois Lerner’s stated apology back in 2013, any recent so-called 'apology' by the IRS has little value. That is because the Service continues to suggest that its targeting was really just ‘mismanagement.’”

Greim added: “This story was dismantled in our case. For taxpayers to be truly confident that the IRS has changed, it needs to be truthful about its past abuse of power.”

 

Shooter wonders.. will Lois now have to answer for her misconduct?

 

How many politicians have you ever seen that had to answer questions?
How many had to pay for their misconduct?

 

Misconduct? That's putting it lightly. The woman committed perjury when she testified before congress and said no targeting of conservative groups was being done.

In fact, it would appear that former IRS executive Lois Lerner could soon be held in contempt of Congress and -- as an added bonus -- charged with perjury....

 

Do you think that is very likely to happen?

 

Spare me the faux outrage

 

Maybe some of these lying crooks need to be charged, and spend time in jail.

 

Crooks do not go to jail in the US!!!

They go into politics!!

Thinskin

 

So, the DOJ of one administration "apologizes" for the previous...


Oh, this means everything...

 

So.
You think the Obama DOJ would ever apologize for this?
Or, is it that you think the Trump DOJ is apologizing for political reasons, and there was no targeting of Tea Party supporters? You know, it's all just more political smear by Trump.........

 

There is nothing to apologize for. It wasn't just tea party creeps that were "targeted"... And yes, it iI political.

 

So then the Obama administration didn't target Tea Party organizations, this is all just a political witch hunt.
Got it.

 

The creeps were Lois Lerner and her subordinates at the IRS. Lerner and company lied to congress and the American people and committed crimes that could result in lengthy prison sentences.

This is what the apology is for....

 

you know Obama told her to do it....that was the way he rolled it sure seems now....

 

Wow, sounds like you were right in the thick of things and observed this all first hand...

So, if there was a need for an apology, then who will be brought up on what charges? If there was a crime, prosecute!

I doubt that will happen. This is nothing but grandstanding!

 

Your proof?

 

Oh this is just the beginning... There is a lot more to come.

 

Obama and the low life's at the DNC have their handwriting all over this.

 

It is also showing up more often in places it shouldn't be.
Notice how the Russian talk has slowed down lately.
Even the people on here are being quite.

 

Yep, the Democrats strategy to take out Trump has fallen apart just like Hillary Clinton's campaign. Even that lackey loser retard Robert Mueller's ties to the DNC and the Russian anti-Trump dossier are being exposed...

I predict pos Mueller will soon resign from the Russia collusion probe investigation and hire his own lawyer...