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Boehner: Who's Going To Jail For What IRS Did?

House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday in the Capitol.
Jim Lo Scalzo
/
EPA /LANDOV
House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday in the Capitol.

He doesn't want to know who's going to resign, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Wednesday morning.

He wants to know: "Who's going to jail" for what IRS personnel did to some conservative groups?

As we've been reporting, IRS officials have admitted that during the 2012 campaign cycle some groups that applied for tax-exempt status were put through extra scrutiny if their paperwork mentioned the "tea party" or included words such as "patriots" — signals that they might be engaged in political activity (which would rule out giving them tax-exempt status).

The IRS says this wasn't about partisan politics, but was a misguided effort by some lower-level employees to streamline their work.

Conservatives have howled. President Obama has called such actions by the IRS "outrageous." Attorney Gen. Eric Holder has ordered an investigation to see if any laws were broken. A Treasury Department inspector general has issued a report that says "ineffective management" at the IRS led to the use of "inappropriate criteria" during the application reviews.

Update at 2:50 p.m. ET: IRS Employees May Have Violated Hatch Act:

When asked what criminal charges might come from the FBI's investigation of the IRS, Holder said in testimony before Congress on Wednesday that there was the potential for civil rights violations, false statements and violations of the Hatch Act.

The Hatch Act, enacted in 1939, prohibits federal employees belonging to the executive branch from engaging in partisan activities.

Related stories and posts:

-- "5 Takeaways From IRS Report." (Politico)

-- "IRS Inquiries Crossed The Line, Tea Party Groups Say." (Morning Edition)

-- "Controversies Risk Starving Obama's Agenda Of Air." (It's All Politics)

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.