Rep. Connolly Letter to IRS IG Says His Testimony Was “at best incomplete, if not misleading”

June 25, 2013

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From Rep. Gerry Connolly's office: Virginia Congressman Specifically Questioned IG Whether Progressive Groups were Targeted for Further Review by IRS Staff WASHINGTON – In a letter sent today to Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) said he is concerned that the IG’s answers under oath to Connolly’s questions about whether progressive groups, as well as conservative groups, were targeted by the IRS at a May 22 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing “were at best incomplete, if not misleading.” Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee’s Subcommittee on Government Operations, asked IG George to “promptly respond to this letter to address why you were not more forthcoming in your response to my hearing questions.” Recent reports have revealed that the IRS used the term “progressives,” as well as tea party to screen tax-exempt applications for further review, and congressional investigators from the House Ways and Means Committee have verified that the list of 298 organizations reviewed by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) contained liberal organizations. “These new revelations are troubling and raise serious questions in regard to the thoroughness, fairness, and accuracy of the TIGTA final audit report” on the actions of IRS staff in identifying groups seeking tax exempt status as “Be On the Lookout For” (BOLO) and targeting them for further review. Connolly included in the letter a transcript of his exchange with IG George during the May 22 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the IRS actions. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Deputy IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel were copied on the letter. Connolly said this afternoon that, “Inspector General George needs to come before the Oversight Committee again, under oath, and explain himself.” # # # A pdf of the signed letter can be found here: http://connolly.house.gov/uploads/RM%20Connolly%20-%20Letter%20to%20TIGTA%20-%20June%2025,%202013.pdf

From Rep. Gerry Connolly's office:

Virginia Congressman Specifically Questioned IG Whether Progressive Groups were Targeted for Further Review by IRS Staff

WASHINGTON – In a letter sent today to Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration J. Russell George, Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) said he is concerned that the IG’s answers under oath to Connolly’s questions about whether progressive groups, as well as conservative groups, were targeted by the IRS at a May 22 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing “were at best incomplete, if not misleading.”

Connolly, Ranking Member of the Committee’s Subcommittee on Government Operations, asked IG George to “promptly respond to this letter to address why you were not more forthcoming in your response to my hearing questions.” Recent reports have revealed that the IRS used the term “progressives,” as well as tea party to screen tax-exempt applications for further review, and congressional investigators from the House Ways and Means Committee have verified that the list of 298 organizations reviewed by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) contained liberal organizations.

“These new revelations are troubling and raise serious questions in regard to the thoroughness, fairness, and accuracy of the TIGTA final audit report” on the actions of IRS staff in identifying groups seeking tax exempt status as “Be On the Lookout For” (BOLO) and targeting them for further review.

Connolly included in the letter a transcript of his exchange with IG George during the May 22 House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on the IRS actions. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Deputy IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel were copied on the letter.

Connolly said this afternoon that, “Inspector General George needs to come before the Oversight Committee again, under oath, and explain himself.”

# # #

A pdf of the signed letter can be found here: http://connolly.house.gov/uploads/RM%20Connolly%20-%20Letter%20to%20TIGTA%20-%20June%2025,%202013.pdf