IRS Denies Tax Exempt Status to 2 Tea Party Groups - After 7 Years

After up to 7 years of intentionally delaying their cases, the IRS denied two Tea Party groups tax exempt status while approving one, The Washington Times reports.

The scorecard, published Monday by the Times, shows:

• 2 denials (Albuquerque Tea Party and Tri Cities Tea Party from Washington).
• 2 pending, including Texas Patriots Tea Party, part of a class action lawsuit.
• 1 approval (Unite in Action from Michigan).

The Albuquerque Tea Party first applied in December of 2009, the Times reported.

"It is clear that we still have an IRS that is corrupt and incapable of self-correction," Jay Sekulow, chief counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice told the Times.

The agency has admitted in court to singling out the groups for scrutiny not given to other groups because of their political viewpoints, the Times reported.

A federal court in August blasted the IRS, chastising it for demanding that Tea Party groups drop their lawsuits in order to process the applications.

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