Obama Chief of Staff Got Early Word of Improper IRS Scrutiny
President Barack Obamas chief of staff was told that an investigation found IRS employees improperly scrutinized Tea Party and small-government advocacy groups seeking tax-exempt status before the report was made public, White House press secretary Jay Carney said.
Obama wasnt informed of the probe at the time, Carney said. Chief of staff Denis McDonough was told by White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler about the inspector generals audit and the probable findings after Ruemmler was briefed on it on April 24, he said. The president has said he learned of the audit when the likely findings were first made public May 10.
We knew of the subject of the investigation, and we knew the nature of some of the potential findings, Carney said. But we did not have a copy of the draft report, we did not know the details, the scope, or the motivation surrounding misconduct and we did not know who was responsible.
The information given to Ruemmler was very top line and it was she who decided not to notify Obama, Carney said. Its a cardinal rule that the White House or Treasury Department not intervene or appear to intervene in an independent investigation, he said.
Carney said Ruemmler was informed by the Treasury Departments General Counsels office April 24 that the Inspector General for Tax Administration was completing a report that found that IRS employees improperly scrutinized political organizations seeking tax exempt status by searching their applications for words including Tea Party and patriot.
The previous week, on April 16, Ruemmler had learned more generally that there were a number of Inspector General reports being finalized and an IRS investigation was among those investigations, Carney said.
Carneys comments today are at odds with what he told reporters last week, when he said the White House counsel only found out about the review being conducted and coming to conclusion by the inspector general.
Carney insisted the two statements arent in conflict and today he just provided additional information.
The White House counsel was told, broadly, that theres an inspector general audit reaching its conclusion, he said. The potential findings are that some people improperly targeted conservative organizations in their applications for tax-exempt status, but there was no specificity about who, about motivation, certainly no names of involvement, and it was not concluded.
Four congressional committees and the Justice Department are investigating the inspector generals findings that the Internal Revenue Service beginning in 2010 targeted for extra review anti-tax Tea Party groups seeking tax-exempt status.
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Obama Chief of Staff Got Early Word of Improper IRS Scrutiny