IRS Apologizes For Singling Out Conservative Groups
Update at 6:10 p.m. ET: White House: IRS was 'Inappropriate':
White House press secretary Jay Carney called the IRS actions "inappropriate" and said they should be investigated.
Carney, speaking to reporters Friday afternoon, noted that the Internal Revenue Service is an independent agency with only two political appointees.
Here's our original post:
Saying that it was wrong, insensitive and inappropriate, a top official from the Internal Revenue Service apologized Friday to conservative groups that were singled out for additional IRS scrutiny during the 2012 campaign.
The Associated Press writes that Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups, said at a conference sponsored by the American Bar Association:
"That the practice was initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias. After her talk, she told The AP that no high level IRS officials knew about the practice. She did not say when they found out."