Bill Posey: “In March of 2012, then-IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman assured Congress: ``there is no targeting of conservative…”

“In March of 2012, then-IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman assured Congress: ``there is no targeting of conservative groups.'' Yet, I continued to hear stories from constituents telling me a different story. On April 23, 2012, I joined with 62 of my House colleagues in writing the IRS Commissioner inquiring further about the possible targeting. We were assured that the rules were being applied fairly and that there was no targeting or delay of processing applications from conservative groups. In April of 2013, top IRS official Lois Lerner revealed in a public forum that the agency had been discriminating against more than 75 groups with conservative sounding names like ``Tea Party'' or ``Patriot'' in the run-up to the 2012 election the very time we were inquiring. Ms. Lerner actually went so far as to plant a question in the audience about the issue. Ms. Lerner's admission came just days before the release of an internal Treasury Inspector General audit that documented that the IRS had been misleading Congress. When asked by Members of the House about the targeting, Miss Lerner has refused to answer our questions on multiple occasions, prompting the House to find her in contempt of Congress. The rights of hundreds and perhaps thousands of ordinary Americans have been violated, and I am most concerned about making sure that justice is pursued in protecting their rights. Further allegations of abuse have been made by other conservative groups.…”