IRS Probed Liberal Groups, Too, but Wasn't as Tough

The Internal Revenue Service closely examined a number of liberal groups that applied for tax-exempt status, but the questioning was far less invasive than the agency's scrutiny of conservative groups, according to a review by Politico.

Liberal groups also appeared less concerned about questions they received from the IRS than conservative groups did, the review found.

"In my mind, I didn't find it to be onerous. I just thought they were doing their due-diligence," Denise Cardinal of Progress Now, the umbrella organization for a number of progressive groups that were scrutinized by the IRS, told Politico.

Politico, however, found more examples of conservative groups being singled out for lengthy, intrusive interrogations, while liberal groups seemed to get off more easily.
"The questions they asked were pretty neutral," said Joe Onek of the Committee for a Fair Judiciary, one of the progressive groups that applied for tax exempt status.

And while much of the harsh questioning of conservative groups came out of the IRS Cincinnati office, liberal groups that were questioned from that office got relatively mild questions, Politico found.