Washington:
The chairman of a House of Representatives committee investigating the federal tax collection agency says that interviews with low-ranking employees at a field office indicated that they were directed by Washington to subject conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status to tough scrutiny.
The top Democrat on that committee, however, contested Republican Rep. Darrell Issa's claim, saying none of the employees interviewed have so far identified any Internal Revenue Service officials in Washington as ordering that targeting.
Tax agency officials and the Obama administration have said that treatment was inappropriate, but the political tempest is showing no signs of ebbing and has put the White House on the defensive, jeopardizing Obama's second-term agenda.
Three congressional committees are investigating, a Justice Department criminal investigation is under way, President Barack Obama has replaced the IRS' acting commissioner and two other top IRS officials have stepped aside.
The excerpts of interviews released Sunday by Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, provided no direct evidence that Washington had ordered the tough screening of conservative groups.
The IRS has already come under bipartisan criticism after officials at the tax collection agency disclosed that they had targeted tea party and other conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Issa's committee released excerpts from interviews congressional investigators conducted last week with two IRS employees from a regional office in Cincinnati which handles applications from around the U.S. for tax-exempt status. The excerpts omitted the names of those interviewed and provided no specifics about individuals in Washington who may have been involved.
Issa, without naming White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, maintained Sunday on CNN that Obama's chief spokesman was a "paid liar" who is "still making up things" by blaming the scandal on field officers in a regional office.
"This is a problem that was coordinated in all likelihood right out of Washington headquarters and we're getting to proving it," Issa said.
Rep. Elijah Cummings said Issa's comments conflicted with a Treasury inspector general's report that provided no evidence that the Cincinnati office received orders on targeting from anyone else.
"Rather than lobbing unsubstantiated conclusions on national television for political reasons, we need to work in a bipartisan way to follow the facts where they lead," Cummings said.
The interviews with IRS employees were conducted by Republican and Democratic aides on Issa's committee and also involved aides from both parties from the House Ways and Means Committee.
One of the employees was a lower-level worker while the other was higher-ranked, said one congressional aide.
A Treasury inspector general's report in May said employees at the IRS Cincinnati office began searching for applications from tea party and conservative groups in their hunt for organizations that primarily do work related to election campaigns, which would disqualify them from receiving tax-exempt status.
That May report blamed "ineffective management" for letting that screening occur for more than 18 months between 2010 and 2012. But that report - and three hearings by congressional committees - have produced no specific evidence that the Cincinnati workers were ordered by anyone in Washington to target conservatives.