CBS News - IRS Targeted Tea Party Groups Earlier than 2012

By CBSNews.com

Senior Internal Revenue Service officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as 2011, according to a draft of an inspector general's report obtained by The Associated Press that seemingly contradicts public statements by the IRS commissioner.

The IRS apologized Friday for what it acknowledged was "inappropriate" targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status. The agency blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware. . . .

Attorney Jay Sekulow confirmed to CBS News Saturday that IRS targeting of tea party groups began in 2011, CBS News correspondent Chip Reid reports.

"When we saw the letters that the IRS had sent to our clients, I was outraged," Sekulow said.

As chief counsel of the conservative American Center for Law and Justice, Sekulow has represented nearly 30 tea party groups investigated by the IRS.

"It was from coast to coast," said Sekulow. "Saying that this was, you know, low-level IRS employees- these weren't clerks. These were Internal Revenue Service agents that are trained in tax-exempt specialties.". . .

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