Dem Senator: Obama Must 'Immediately Condemn' IRS Targeting, Fire Responsible Officials

A Democratic senator has called on President Obama to “immediately condemn” the Internal Revenue Service for targeting conservative groups.

“The actions of the IRS are unacceptable and un-American. Government agencies using their bureaucratic muscle to target Americans for their political beliefs cannot be tolerated,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said today. “The president must immediately condemn this attack on our values, find those individuals in his administration who are responsible and fire them.”

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The commissioner who was in charge during last campaign season, Douglas Shulman, left the administration three days after Obama was re-elected.

Manchin said the time is now to begin probing the scandal.

“While we await answers from the Inspector General, there must be a congressional investigation to determine how this happened and to prevent this from ever happening again,” he said.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, issued on Friday a more careful statement calling for a probe into the IRS’ enforcement of nonprofit rules.

“My subcommittee has been investigating the IRS’s failure to enforce the law requiring that tax-exempt 501(c)4s be engaged exclusively in social welfare activities, not partisan politics,” Levin said. “Today’s announcement by the IRS raises a second issue: whether the IRS, to the extent it has enforced its rules, has been impartial in doing so. Both issues require investigation.”

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