WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder yesterday ordered an FBI probe of the IRS for targeting politically conservative groups, as the White House tried to distance itself from the rapidly growing scandal.
Holder called the IRS misconduct “outrageous and unacceptable” and said the FBI and Justice Department would “see if there were criminal violations.”
Holder’s call came as the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration issued its report blaming the IRS’s lax management for targeting Tea Party and other right-wing groups.
The IRS’s actions against them were “based on their names or policy positions,” rather than evidence of improper electioneering, the report said.
In reaction to the report, President Obama called the actions “intolerable and inexcusable,” and directed Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to hold accountable all those responsible for the misconduct.
“The IRS must apply the law in a fair and impartial way, and its employees must act with utmost integrity,” Obama said.
“This report shows that some of its employees failed that test.”
The IRS denied it was targeting groups for their partisan views.
Republicans, meanwhile, remained skeptical of the Obama administration’s ability to police itself.
“Who stands to benefit by this selective targeting by the IRS? It’s the president, it’s his good friend Eric Holder, it’s this administration,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).