Report: IRS 'Prone to Abuse' at Highest Levels

The IRS did indeed hold up the applications of the Tea Party and other conservative groups for tax-exempt status, according to a bipartisan Senate Finance Committee report.

"Our investigation found that from 2010 to 2013, IRS management was delinquent in its responsibility to provide effective control, guidance, and direction over the processing of applications for tax-exempt status filed by Tea Party and other political advocacy organizations," Wednesday's report said.
    
Democrats say bad management and bureaucratic bungling at the IRS was to blame.

"The results of this in-depth, bipartisan investigation showcase pure bureaucratic mismanagement without any evidence of political interference," Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the top Democrat on the committee, said. "Groups on both sides of the political spectrum were treated equally in their efforts to secure tax-exempt status."

But Republicans say the tax agency was harrassing the groups because they were conservative, and that the Obama administration misled Congress and tried to hide evidence.

"This bipartisan investigation shows gross mismanagement at the highest levels of the IRS and confirms an unacceptable truth: that the IRS is prone to abuse," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, chairman of the committee, charged.

"The committee found evidence that the administration's political agenda guided the IRS's actions with respect to their treatment of conservative groups," he said.