Politics

Rand Paul wants criminal charges against officials involved in IRS targeting

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday introduced a resolution in the Senate calling for law enforcement to determine whether anyone in the Obama administration should be charged with a crime over the “targeting of tea party groups by the Internal Revenue Service.”

The Republican senator’s resolution states that “an independent authority should be authorized to investigate and, if applicable, seek criminal charges against any individuals who authorized or were involved in targeting people of the United States based on their political views.”

The resolution also states that “if other entities in the administration of President Obama were involved in or were aware of the discrimination and did not take action to stop the actions of the Internal Revenue Service; President Obama should terminate the individuals responsible for targeting and willfully discriminating against tea party groups and other conservative groups.”

On Friday, the IRS acknowledged it specifically targeted tea party and conservative groups in investigating whether these organizations had violated their tax exempt status. The organization has apologized.

“The IRS has been using taxing power as a political tool to bully these conservative groups and this type of intimidation is a major violation of our U.S. Constitution,” Paul said in a statement released by his office. “This act of discrimination should not be tolerated and I demand a formal investigation seeking criminal charges against any individuals who authorized or were involved in targeting people of the United States based on their political views.”

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