The first lawsuit has been filed by a Northern California tea party group against the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Department of the Treasury, and current and former employees of the Internal Revenue Service, identified as John Does 1-100, for the deliberate targeting by the IRS of conservatives groups associated with the Tea Party.
(Lawsuit complaint will be embedded below the post.)
"The IRS and its agents singled out groups like NorCal Tea Party Patriots for intensive and intrusive scrutiny, probing their members' associates, speech, activities and beliefs," the suit contends.
This contention is supported by the official Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration Report, released recently, and which the lawsuit references on page 5, item 15, of the embedded complaint below the post.
The group is seeking unspecified damages for "suffering years of delay and expense while awaiting the exemption and spending valuable time and money answering the IRS' questions. The result was a muffling and muzzling of free expression.," according to the lawsuit.
It took two years for the IRS to finally approve their tax-exempt status after applying in March of 2010.
The lawsuit asserts two violations: (1) violation of the Privacy Act of 1974; and (2) violation of the First and Fifth Amendments under Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics, 403 U.S. 388 (1971)(“Bivens”)
Norcal v IRS.pdf uploaded by Susan Duclos
Related:
Full Wake up America coverage on the IRS scandal can be found here.