IRS Says I'm sorry

Kentucky – Today the Associated Press broke a story quoting Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS unit that oversees tax-exempt groups, as saying that organizations which included the words "tea party" or "patriot" in their applications for tax-exempt status were singled out for additional reviews. Lerner also said the practice, initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati, was wrong and she apologized while speaking at a conference in Washington.



Eric Wilson, President of the Kentucky 912 and National 912 Co-Chair – “Today's apology is a victory for Free Speech and Liberty. While we should feel vindicated for or principled stance against the government’s use of the IRS as a weapon against liberty groups - we also feel there are many still unanswered questions. Clearly like the targeted attacks on groups like ours, this was politically motivated and questions of who was requesting this information, why, and for what purpose need to still be addressed.”


Tom Zawistowski, Executive Director of the Portage County TEA Party and recent Past President of the Ohio Liberty Coalition, add this "We will accept Ms. Lerner's apology as being appropriate, because what the IRS did was wrong and we proved it was wrong. However, we cannot accept her statement that this attack on our organizations and our liberty was orchestrated by low-level IRS employees in the Cincinnati office. We have proof that the same questions were being asked of groups from Virginia to Hawaii. We have further proof that agents admitted that they were being told by "higher ups" not to process applications from "TEA Party Groups". Our legal representatives, the American Center for Law and Justice, has information from groups all over the nation that substantiate this pattern of abuse."