Timeline of IRS scandal
April 19, 2010 A Sensitive Case Report on the targeted tea party groups is shared with Lerner. This is the first time a top IRS official is given details about the spike in tea party applications.
June and July 2011 Lerner is briefed that employees are using search terms such as tea party, patriots, 9/12 Project, government spending, government debt, taxes and make America a better place to live to flag applications. Lerner, after learning about the search terms, tells the Cincinnati office to revise its guidelines for flagging applications. The guidance is expanded to include organizations involved with political, lobbying, or advocacy for exemption under 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4).
Also in June, Lerners hard drive crashes, erasing two years worth of emails investigators deem vital to their probes.
(GRAPHIC: IRS scandal timeline)
December 2011 House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee staffers meet with Lerner, but she doesnt mention the targeting program.
January 2012 Cincinnati employees change their search terms again without telling management. This time, the search terms arent as specific as tea party and 9/12, but they still focus on political positions such as limiting/expanding government and social economic reform/movement. Upon discovering the change, Lerner institutes new rules requiring all changes to the search term criteria be approved by management.
March 2012 Republican House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa expresses concern to the IRS inspector general that tea party groups are being unfairly targeted by the agency. Doug Shulman, IRS commissioner when the targeting program got underway, vehemently denies to lawmakers in March 2012 that the agency was targeting conservative groups. He is briefed two months later but never follows up with lawmakers.
June and July 2012 Issa officially requests that the inspector general audit the IRS to see how employees are processing applications for nonprofit groups. IRS Inspector General J. Russell George writes a letter to Issa confirming an audit is underway.
(Also on POLITICO: Exclusive: Lois Lerner breaks silence)
November 2012 Shulman leaves his post atop the IRS due to term limits. Steve Miller becomes acting IRS commissioner.
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Timeline of IRS scandal