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A new Senate report on alleged targeting of conservative groups largely continues an argument that Democrats and Republicans have been having since the controversy erupted in May of 2013.

Not surprisingly, the two sides couldnt agree on what the report should say, so theres a majority version and a minority version.

In their majority report, Democrats on the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations argue again that the controversy has been unfairly depicted, because the Internal Revenue Service also targeted liberal groups such as ACORN, the community organizing group, and the Occupy movement, as well as conservative tea-party groups.

A 2013 IRS inspector generals report should have taken that into account, but instead focused on how the IRS handled applications from conservative groups and excluded any comparative data on applications filed by liberal groups, producing distorted audit results that continue to be misinterpreted, the majority report said.

After reviewing nearly 800,000 pages of documents and conducting nearly two dozen IRS and [inspector general] employee interviews, the investigation found that the IRS used inappropriate selection criteria, burdensome questions, and lengthy delays in processing applications fortax-exempt status from both conservative and liberal groups, said the subcommittees chairman, Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.).

The IRS inspector general, J. Russell George, said Friday that he stands behind the audit report and that his offices review of IRS treatment of groups that applied for tax-exempt status is ongoing.

Republicans say in essence that Democrats are comparing apples and boulders, and that conservative groups were far more frequently and heavily burdened by the treatment they got at the hands of the IRS.

The majoritys interpretation of the evidence fails to capture the extent of the IRSs bias against conservative groups and flagrant abuse of power, said Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the top Republican on the subcommittee. The minority report adds: The inclusion of a scant few liberal groups by the IRS does not bear comparison to the targeting of conservative groups.

Each side, however, downplays some facts that might be inconvenient to their case.

The majority report, for example, tends to minimize the extensive evidence that the IRS really did start collecting tea-party applications for what turned out to be lengthy and intrusive review, starting in early 2010. IRS officials in Washington referred to the matter in emails as tea party cases for months, until they decided theyd better broaden its scope.

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Republicans, Democrats on Senate Panel Issue Duelling Reports on IRS Controversy