The Internal Revenue Service admits that they were overzealous in targeting conservative groups applying for nonprofit tax-exempt status, according to The New York Times.
Lois Lerner, the director of the IRS division overseeing tax-exempt groups, admitted that the agency singled out groups with "tea party" or "patriot" in their titles.
"We made some mistakes," Lerner said. "Some people didn't use very good judgment. For that we are apologetic."
Lerner went on to explain that none of the groups that received the extra scrutiny were denied tax-exempt status, according to Reuters.
There was a significant rise in the amount of groups that applied for tax-exempt status prior to the 2012 elections. This rise can be attributed to a combination of the rise of the Tea Party movement and the Supreme Court "Citizens United" decision that removed limits on the amount of campaign donations.
"Local career employees in Cincinnati sought to centralize work and assign cases to designated employees in an effort to promote consistency and quality," a statement from the IRS read. "While centralizing cases for consistency made sense, the way we initially centralized them did not. Mistakes were made initially, but they were in no way due to any political or partisan rationale. The I.R.S. also stresses that our employees - all career civil servants - will continue to be guided by tax law and not partisan issues."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., released a statement suggesting that an apology was insufficient and that a top to bottom review of the IRS was necessary:
"I call on the White House to conduct a transparent, government-wide review aimed at assuring the American people that these thuggish practices are not underway at the I.R.S. or elsewhere in the administration against anyone, regardless of their political views," McConnell said. "Make no mistake, an apology will not put this issue to rest. Now more than ever we need to send a clear message to the Obama Administration that the First Amendment is non-negotiable, and that apologies after an election year are not a sufficient response to what we now know took place at the I.R.S. This kind of political thuggery has absolutely no place in our politics."
