'Culture Of Cover-Up' Or 'Foolish Mistake' At IRS?

04:45

May 17, 2013

Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller, right, and J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, are sworn in on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Friday, May 17, 2013, prior to testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the extra scrutiny the IRS gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

At a congressional hearing this morning, Republican House Ways and Means Committee Chairman David Camp called the IRS's scrutiny of conservative political groups seeking tax-exempt status part of a "culture of cover-ups" in the Obama administration.

Ranking Democrat Sander Levin said he "totally, totally disagreed" with Camp's statement.

And the outgoing Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller apologized and denied that partisanship had anything to do with it.

Miller said the scrutiny was the result of "foolish mistakes" made by people "trying too hard" to reduce their workload in the face of a growing number of applications for tax-exempt status.

Washington Post live blog on IRS hearing

Guest:

Jodi Schneider, Congress editor for Bloomberg News.

This segment aired on May 17, 2013.

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