May 15, 2013

IRS Chief Fired Over Targeting of Conservative Nonprofits

President Obama announced during a press conference at about 5:30 on Thursday evening that the Treasury Secretary had asked for, and received, the resignation of the acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

Isaac M. O'Bannon

President Obama announced during a press conference on Thursday evening that the Treasury Secretary had asked for, and received, the resignation of the acting Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

Steven T. Miller has been acting commissioner since Nov. 10 of 2012, and was a deputy director when the alleged and admitted profiling of conservative groups by the IRS occurred. Those efforts resulted in many nonprofit groups with conservative sounding names, such as Tea Party or Patriot groups, were delayed for prolonged period, receiving much different treatment than other groups, whether political or not.

The agency admitted the profiling events last Friday, announcing that it believed the efforts were primarily out of a single office and was not a top-down directive by then-chief of the IRS, Douglas Schulman, originally a Bush appointee.

The issue has festered over the past week, with additional groups saying they were prevented or delayed from receiving their tax-exempt status as a non-profit, simply because of their politics.

Earlier today, the U.S. Justice Department announced that the FBI’s iinvestigative approach may include civil rights violations.

Acting Commissioner Miller had not been at the branch of the IRS that oversees tax-exempt credentialing when the events occurred during the year before the election.

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