Portman, Senate Finance Committee Republicans demand TIGTA investigate leak of non-profits' confidential tax information

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) today joined fellow Senate Finance Committee Republicans, led by Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), in calling on Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) Russell George to conduct a full investigation into the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) possible role in the disclosure of nine conservative groups’ confidential applications for tax-exempt status, six of which appeared on the web site of the journalist group ProPublica.

The improper disclosure of such confidential information is a criminal offense under federal law.

“We are writing to request that the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) investigate the IRS’s improper, and likely illegal, disclosure of nine organizations’ applications for tax-exempt status,” the Senators wrote. “...we are also troubled by the possibility that the IRS improperly disclosed confidential information about certain conservative groups during 2012, including application materials and donor names.

[[In-content Ad]]"The IRS’s recent actions have at least the appearance of injecting partisan politics into what is supposed to be an impartial process and causes us, and the American public, to question the integrity of the IRS administration and their ability to impartially uphold the nation’s tax laws.”

Last May, Hatch asked then-IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman to investigate the agency’s possible role in the disclosure of the National Organization for Marriage’s (NOM) confidential donor information that was published by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Huffington Post. 

The agency didn’t respond to the questions raised in the letter. TIGTA’s recent report, which exposed the IRS as targeting conservative groups, coupled with the IRS’s lack of response to Hatch’s May 2012 request, prompted the senators to request an independent investigation. 

Joining Portman and Hatch on the letter were Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Thune (R-S.D.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) The Senate Finance Committee has jurisdiction over the IRS.