Watchdog Judicial Watch says it has filed a Freedom of Information lawsuit to obtain documents from the Internal Revenue Service showing how conservative groups were screened for nonprofit status.
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 9 is demanding the release of copies of "all communications relating to the review process for organizations seeking 501(c)(4) nonprofit status since January 1, 2012,"
the Washington Times reports.
The lawsuit was "designed to cut through the Obama administration cover-up of its IRS scandal," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a written statement.
The group also wants the District Court for the District of Columbia "to order the IRS to provide records of communications by former IRS official Lois Lerner concerning the controversial review and approval process."
Lerner, who retired from the agency in September, had headed the IRS division that handles applications for
tax-exempt status.
On May 14, a
Treasury inspector general report revealed the IRS had singled out groups with conservative-sounding terms including "patriot" and "tea party" in their titles when applying for tax-exempt status.
But Lerner refused to testify at a hearing before Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) House Oversight Committee, demanding immunity concerning her role in the targeting scandal.
Eventually, the agency acknowledged while Lerner was in charge, agents improperly
targeted tea party groups.
"One of the most pressing questions, of course, is, 'What did the president know and when did he know it?’" Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said in a statement, charging former IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman and aide Jonathan Davis "visited the White House hundreds of times during the Obama IRS witch hunt."
"The Obama IRS suppressed the entire Tea Party movement just in time to help Obama win re-election," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "One of the most pressing questions, of course, is 'What did the president know, and when did he know it?'"