COLUMBUS, Ohio – Saying that an apology is not enough, members of tea-party groups from Ohio and other states are converging on the Cincinnati office where IRS staffers subjected those groups’ applications tax-exempt status to extra scrutiny.
The Cincinnati Tea Party, along with supporters from Indiana and Kentucky, will protest at Fountain Square.
The IRS has acknowledged improperly scrutinizing conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status at its Cincinnati office during the 2012 election cycle.
The IRS has demonstrated the most disturbing, illegal and outrageous abuse of government power. We reject a simple apology that does nothing to alleviate the danger of this happening again,” Cincinnati Tea Party president Ann Becker said.
The Senate Finance Committee today hears from former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, a Bush administration appointee who was at the helm when the IRS started targeting conservative groups.
Ousted Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller will also testify today.
White House spokesman Jay Carney insists no one at the White House intervened in an investigation of the IRS by the Treasury Department’s inspector general.
Carney also said some White House senior staff members were aware an investigation was underway, but sought no details until the full report was done.
The President was not notified about the ongoing probe, Carney said.