The Republican National Committee is celebrating Tax Day by suing the Internal Revenue Service, charging the Obama administration withheld documents sought in a Freedom of Information Act request regarding the agency’s targeting of political organizations.
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“We’re filing this suit because the Obama administration has a responsibility to be transparent and accountable to the American people. The IRS has a legal obligation to answer our inquiry for these records,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement.
“On Tax Day especially Americans deserve to know whether they can trust the agency to which they’re sending their taxes.”
The RNC has requested the IRS turn over documents related to the agency’s development of criteria for reviewing and approving tax-exempt political organizations last May.
The IRS has subsequently requested multiple extensions to prepare the documents, but not yet turned over any materials, according to the court filing.
The RNC’s request came after the IRS revealed in 2013 that the agency had given additional scrutiny to political nonprofit organizations, including those linked to the Tea Party and Occupy movements.
Earlier this year, President Obama admitted there had been some “bone-headed decisions” at the agency but said that it was rooted in confusion rather than corruption or intentional targeting of political enemies.
“Not even mass corruption, not even a smidgen of corruption,” he told Fox News.
The lawsuit was filed in the D.C. District Court.
