Democrats look to defuse GOP’s latest IRS accusation

{mosads}In response, Levin released a fuller transcript from the same interview, which shows that potentially political groups were being sent for secondary screening because the IRS had scrapped the “Be On the Lookout,” or BOLO, list that sparked the controversy over improper targeting in the first place.

Levin’s transcript shows the agent agreeing with a question asking if potentially political groups, Tea Party or otherwise, were being sent for extra screening “out of an abundance of caution.”

“See, with the BOLO gone, I want to make sure I do the right thing when I am looking at a case,” the agent said.

On Thursday, Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) released a snippet of the interview that indicated the agent told congressional investigators that currently, the IRS is setting aside all applications for tax-exempt status from Tea Party groups for secondary screening, even if there is no evidence of political activity.

Democrats cried foul Friday, arguing that the fuller transcript indicates the IRS is now applying additional screening to all potentially political groups applying for exempt status.

“The Republicans should stop trying to distort facts to gain a political advantage and instead focus on fixing the 501(c)(4) guidance problem,” said Levin. “I call on Chairman Camp, in the future, to release the full context of any exchanges and not carve out parts around 6103 confidential tax information to try to fit the Republican narrative.”