NBC appears to believe
that this is some kind of scoop, but it actually isn't news:
Additional scrutiny of conservative organizations’ activities by the IRS did not solely originate in the agency’s Cincinnati office, with requests for information coming from other offices and often bearing the signatures of higher-ups at the agency, according to attorneys representing some of the targeted groups. At least one letter requesting information about one of the groups bears the signature of Lois Lerner, the suspended director of the IRS Exempt Organizations department in Washington.
Jay Sekulow, an attorney representing 27 conservative political advocacy organizations that applied to the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status, provided some of the letters to NBC News. He said the groups’ contacts with the IRS prove that the practices went beyond a few “front line” employees in the Cincinnati office, as the IRS has maintained.
Here's two reasons this isn't news. First,
The Washington Post already reported this information two weeks ago, albeit with a report that didn't read like a press release from Jay Sekulow.
Second, and more importantly, it's not a "scandal" if the IRS asks groups applying for special tax status to verify their eligibility. If you want special privileges, you're going to have to be willing to substantiate your claims. When the IRS asks a group applying for 501(c)(4) status to prove that it is entitled to that status, that's the IRS doing its job.
The problem comes if some groups are treated differently than other groups because of their political belief. But that doesn't mean the IRS should rubber-stamp the applications of political groups—it just means that left or right, all political groups should be on a level playing field.
There's no question that the laws here are a mess, and the regulations surrounding them aren't any better. But those laws and regulations require the IRS to ask these kinds of questions. As long as they are on the books, political groups that seek non-profit status are going to have to be prepared to provide answers. It's not surprising that lawyers like Jay Sekulow would try to blur the line between the IRS doing its job and its unacceptable targeting practices, but NBC really should know better than to be his stenographer.