A Colorado conservative group is fighting back against the IRS for disclosing its confidential financial information to a liberal news organization by suing the government agency as well as Attorney General Eric Holder.
The Daily Caller reports that the Citizens Awareness Project filed the suit in federal court Thursday demanding that it be awarded $1,000 for every instance in which an unauthorized person viewed the information disclosed on the Internet by ProPublica earlier this year.
The conservative 501(c)(4) nonprofit group was one of several whose applications for tax-exempt status from the IRS was mishandled.
"Defendants' conduct has caused plaintiff to incur actual damages in the form of harm to its reputation, harm to its fundraising ability, and direct costs for legal and public relations responses related to the release of this tax return information," the lawsuit said.
The Denver-based group was one of 31 whose confidential IRS applications were sent to ProPublica as part of the news group's request for public information.
Supporters of the Colorado organization say it was targeted for retribution because it spent nearly $1 million against President Barack Obama in his 2012 reelection bid.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of a government promotion of the IRS official who approved the release of financial documents corresponding to nine conservative groups, as well as the Colorado organization,
the National Review reports.
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