CNN - Holder Orders Probe of IRS Targeting Conservative Groups

By Josh Levs, CNN.com

The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into whether the Internal Revenue Service politically targeted some conservative groups applying for federal tax-exempt status, Attorney General Eric Holder told reporters on Tuesday.

"The FBI is coordinating with the Justice Department to see if any laws were broken in connection with those matters related to the IRS," Holder said at a briefing. . . .

Letters provided to CNN show IRS officials in Washington and California contacted conservative groups to demand more information before approving the groups' requests for tax-exempt status.

The American Center for Law and Justice, a legal group representing numerous conservative organizations, provided CNN with four such letters: one each from IRS offices in Washington; Cincinnati; El Monte, California, and Laguna Niguel, California.

The words "patriots" or "tea party" figured in the names of each group that received the letter. . . .

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