Roll Call - IRS Oversight Reignites Tea Party Ire

By Janie Lorber, RollCall.com

Tea party outrage over a spate of IRS letters to conservative groups has revived a long-standing dispute over the agency’s controversial role in policing politically active nonprofits. . . .

The IRS announced that this year it would begin sending “comprehensive questionnaires” to groups that have already filed tax returns “to ensure that they have classified themselves correctly and that they are complying with applicable rules.”. . .

“When you’re a small organization, what do you have to lose? Nothing. They have to respond in order to protect their own First Amendment interests,” said Jay Sekulow, a conservative lawyer at the American Center for Law and Justice, representing almost 20 tea party groups in a harassment claim against the IRS. “In some cases, these applications have been sitting for two years. Why now in the middle of an election year?”. . .

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