Attorney General Jeff Sessions said “there is no excuse” for the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) “abuse of power” in targeting conservative groups when he announced Thursday that the Department of Justice was settling class action lawsuits.
The lawsuits against the IRS, brought by the Tea Party and more than 400 conservative groups, accused the agency of unconstitutionally targeting them for their political beliefs. The IRS came under intense scrutiny after it admitted in 2013 to applying stricter standards to these groups when they applied for nonprofit statuses and purposefully delaying the process.
“The IRS’ use … of heightened scrutiny was wrong and should never have occurred,” Sessions said in a statement. “It is improper for the IRS to single out groups for different treatment based on their names or ideological positions.”
“Hundreds of organizations were affected by these actions, and they deserve an apology from the IRS,” Sessions added. “We hope that today’s settlement makes clear that this abuse of power will not be tolerated.”
As part of the settlements, the IRS must issue an official apology to the conservative groups and issue payments.
“We all know the IRS unconstitutionally target tea party groups to shut down their political speech in a violation of the First Amendment,” Mark Meckler, President of Citizens for Self-Governance and co-founder of the Tea Party, said in a statement Thursday. “Today, after years of stonewalling by the federal government, the litigation against the IRS for their unconstitutional behavior has been settled and the targeted groups will receive substantial payments.”
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