Feds Admit Candidate, Donor Tax Records Were Improperly Scrutinized, Report Says

A top Republican senator is pressing Attorney General Eric Holder for answers following allegations by a government watchdog that the IRS may have improperly accessed the tax records of a political donor or candidate -- but the Justice Department declined to prosecute the case.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, questioned whether that DOJ decision was "politically motivated."

The original allegation was one of several in a letter from J. Russell George, the inspector general who oversees the IRS, to Grassley. For the first time, George revealed claims that IRS officials targeted political candidates for audits, and that, separately, donor or candidate tax information was improperly accessed or disclosed.

To date, the IRS scandal has focused mainly on the agency's practice of targeting conservative groups for additional scrutiny as they applied for nonprofit status.

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