A Tea Party group celebrated Wednesday after a federal appeals court took their side in NorCal Tea Party Patriots v. IRS. As a result, the government agency will be forced to hand over the complete list of conservative groups it targeted. Finally, the IRS is being held accountable for the scandal.
As you'll recall, a few years ago it was revealed that Obama's IRS placed extra scrutiny on conservative groups who were applying for tax exempt status. As of last July, Rep. Darrell Issa claimed it was still happening.
That's where NorCal comes into the fray. To expose the IRS' unlawful practice and to help prevent future targeting, the group filed the class action lawsuit in the news this week, funded by Citizens for Self Governance. Here's what they stand to gain with Wednesday's victory:
Edward Greim, a lawyer at Graves Garrett who is representing NorCal Patriots, said they should be able to get a better idea of the IRS‘ decision-making once they see the list of groups that was targeted.
“What we’ll be able to see is how, starting in the spring of 2010, with the first one or two groups the IRS targeted, we’ll be able to see that number grow, and we’ll even be able to see at the tail end their possible covering up that conduct,” he said.
The Tea Party Patriots were grateful for the NorCal Tea Party for leading the charge against the Obama administration’s anti-conservative bias.
"Tea Party Patriots thanks the NorCal Tea Party for their relentless pursuit of the truth about IRS targeting of Americans for their political views. The Tea Party movement started as a reaction to big government overreach and the IRS program targeting political speech was a chilling episode that should give pause to Americans of any political background. The entire movement owes the NorCal Tea Party their thanks for keeping the pressure on the IRS and never giving up the fight. We look forward to the truths uncovered as a result of the NorCal Tea Party's efforts."
How many innocent groups will be revealed on the IRS' target list? Will anyone be fired?
Last year, the Justice Department decided not to charge IRS official Lois Lerner or her agency after their 2-year investigation into the matter, chalking it all up to "mismanagement."
Perhaps this case will prove they didn't look hard enough.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member