Poll: Most Say IRS’ Targeting Was Politics-Driven

NYT/CBS Survey: ‘Most Americans Regardless Of Party Believe Political Reasons Drove The Internal Revenue Service’
NYT/CBS: 68% ‘Think The IRS Targeting Was Motivated By Politics’

“Regardless of their party affiliation, Americans think the Internal Revenue Service was wrong to target conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status, and that it was done for political reasons and not because officials felt it was the right policy to pursue, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.” (“I.R.S. Targeting Of Conservatives Wrong, Most Say In Poll,” The New York Times, 6/6/13)

“Most Americans regardless of party believe political reasons drove the Internal Revenue Service to single out for burdensome and unnecessary scrutiny some conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll out Thursday.” (“Poll: Most Say IRS' Targeting Was Politics-Driven,” CBS News, 6/6/13)

• ‘Sixty-eight percent of respondents… 60 percent of Democrats… said they think the IRS targeting was motivated by politics’ “Sixty-eight percent of respondents- 80 percent of Republicans, 60 percent of Democrats and 66 percent of independents - said they think the IRS targeting was motivated by politics, rather than adherence to the tax code policy.” (“Poll: Most Say IRS' Targeting Was Politics-Driven,” CBS News, 6/6/13)

IRS Employee: ‘Everything Comes From The Top’

“The claim that the ongoing IRS scandal is limited to low level employees is falling apart.” (“Reality Check Exclusive: Cincinnati Agent Giving Orders In IRS Scandal?” Fox19 [OH], 5/21/13)

• “The Internal Revenue Service has told House GOP investigators they have identified 88 IRS employees who may have documents relevant to the congressional investigation into targeting of conservative groups, according to a congressional source familiar with the investigation.” (“IRS Collects Docs From 88 Employees In Investigation,” CNN, 5/31/13)
  
  Cincinnati IRS Worker: ‘Everything comes from the top. We don’t have any authority to make those decisions...’ “‘We’re not political,’ said one determinations staffer in khakis as he left work late Tuesday afternoon. ‘We people on the local level are doing what we are supposed to do. . . . That’s why there are so many people here who are flustered. Everything comes from the top. We don’t have any authority to make those decisions without someone signing off on them. There has to be a directive.’” (“At Cincinnati IRS Office, Surprise Over Claims Of Partisan Villainy,” The Washington Post, 5/17/13)“Two Internal Revenue Service employees in the agency's Cincinnati office told congressional investigators that IRS officials in Washington helped direct the probe of tea-party groups that began in 2010.

Transcripts of the interviews, viewed Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal, appear to contradict earlier statements by top IRS officials…” (“IRS Staff Cite Washington Link,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/5/13)

• IRS Worker Gary Muthert: Local Manager told him ‘Washington, D.C., wanted some cases’ “The Cincinnati employee who conducted the search, Gary Muthert, said he started gathering applications in March 2010, at the request of an unidentified local manager, who allegedly told him that ‘Washington, D.C., wanted some cases,’ according to the transcripts.” (“IRS Staff Cite Washington Link,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/5/13)
• IRS Worker Elizabeth Hofacre: ‘I had no autonomy or no authority to act on [applications] without Carter Hull's influence or input… Carter Hull, an IRS lawyer in Washington’ “Elizabeth Hofacre said her office in Cincinnati sought help from IRS officials in the Washington unit that oversees tax-exempt organizations after she started getting the tea-party cases in April 2010. Ms. Hofacre said Carter Hull, an IRS lawyer in Washington, closely oversaw her work and suggested some of the questions asked applicants. ‘I was essentially a front person, because I had no autonomy or no authority to act on [applications] without Carter Hull's influence or input,’ she said, according to the transcripts. ” (“IRS Staff Cite Washington Link,” The Wall Street Journal, 6/5/13)

Colleen Kelley, NTEU President: “[E]verything about the working life of a federal employee is decided by someone who is elected.” (“Federal Workers’ Defense,” The Hill, 5/15/12)

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