The scandal involving the Internal Revenue Service giving extra scrutiny to tea party affiliated groups seeking tax-exempt status has taken yet another turn as a high ranking IRS official based out of Washington admits to knowledge of the targeting, according to USA Today.
Holly Paz, the IRS's director of rulings and agreements, told House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., that she was aware of the targeting but was not certain if the words "tea party" were being used to specifically target conservative groups. Paz makes the argument that "tea party" might have been used to refer to any political group seeking tax-exempt status, much in the same way that "Kleenex" is used to mean tissue, according to USA Today.
"Since the first case that came up to Washington happened to have that name, it appeared to me that that's what they were calling it that as a shorthand, because the first case had been that," Paz said. "Many of these employees have been with the IRS for decades and were used to a world where how they talked about things internally was not something that would be public of that anyone would be interested in.
In her testimony Paz mentioned that liberal groups appeared alongside conservative ones on a list of groups to lookout for used by screeners in Cincinnati.
"And I was aware of, you know, other cases at that time that were working their way through the D.C. office that involved proposed denials of exemption to liberal organizations that supported the Democratic party," Paz said. "So I had no indication that we were not being balanced in what we were doing."
Paz's testimony directly refutes that of Elizabeth Hofacre, the IRS emerging issues coordinator in Cincinnati, who told investigators that she removed any progressive groups from lists that she was given since she was told to target conservative groups.
"I was tasked to do Tea Parties, and I wasn't - I wasn't equipped or set up to do anything else," Hofacre told congressional investigators.
A statement was made over the weekend by Roel Campos, Paz's attorney, that Paz had been placed on administrative leave from the agency, according to Fox News.
"Holly Paz was the whistle-blower was the first to point out the problem," the statement read. "Holly Paz is a consummate professional. Her political preferences have absolutely no impact in the discharge of her duties."
USA Today reports that Paz is a registered democrat who donated $4,000 to the Obama campaing in 2008.
