10 crazy things the IRS asked Tea Party groups
...All of the examples above are taken from actual IRS correspondence received by ACLJ’s 27 clients. There were many versions of the in-depth questionnaire sent to different organizations, suggesting there was more than one agent or one office involved. Though IRS officials blamed “low-level” employees in the Cincinnati office, which is the central IRS office in charge of tax exemptions, French said the abuse was far more widespread. ACLJ’s clients dealt with inquiries from IRS offices from “coast to coast.” Of ACLJ’s 27 clients, 15 finally had their status approved after 6-7 months with legal help. There are 12 groups whose status remains in limbo. ...

IRS Admits Targeting Tea Party Groups During 2012 Elections (Updated with Actual Letters)
...In letters sent from IRS offices in Cincinnati earlier this month, chapters including the Waco (Texas) Tea Party and the Ohio Liberty Council were asked to provide a list of donors, identify volunteers, financial support for and relationships with political candidates and parties, and even printed copies of their Facebook pages.

"Some of what they (the IRS) asked was reasonable, but there were some requests on there that were strange," Toby Marie Walker, president of the Waco Tea Party told FoxNews.com. "It makes you wonder if they do this to groups like ACORN or other left-leaning groups.”...

...Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt groups, said organizations that included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status were singled out for additional reviews....

Will The New York Times Apologize for Applauding IRS Harassment of Tea Partiers?
As Scott Shackford and Mike Riggs have both noted, the Internal Revenue Service officially apologized today for singling out Tea Party and “patriot” groups for harassment during the 2012 election season. As you may recall, in March of last year The New York Times offered its own take on this growing scandal. In an unsigned editorial titled "The I.R.S. Does Its Job," the Times offered its unconditional support to the IRS, arguing that “Taxpayers should be encouraged by complaints from Tea Party chapters applying for nonprofit tax status,” and that, “Such I.R.S. inquiries are long overdue.”...