FBI Press Leak Indicates No Prosecutions for IRS Targeting

After six months of intense investigations, the FBI has concluded that no criminal charges are merited for Internal Revenue Service employees who subjected applications from mostly tea-party nonprofits to extra scrutiny, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday afternoon, citing unnamed FBI officials.

According to the leaks, investigators are more likely to wrap up the probe in a few months and characterize the actions mostly by a Cincinnati-based unit of the IRS Exempt Organizations division as bureaucratic mismanagement.

The story drew another protest from House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Economic Growth, Job Creation and Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who released a joint statement.

“Anonymous -- and apparently politically motivated -- leaks from unnamed law enforcement officials further undermine the public assurances by the current and former FBI directors that this is a legitimate investigation. These leaks come after the Justice Department, citing the confidential nature of the investigation, refused to brief Congress on its progress and congressional investigators independently discovered that a high dollar contributor to the Obama administration failed to recuse herself,” the two lawmakers said. “These revelations further undermine the credibility of Attorney General [Eric] Holder and the Justice Department under his leadership. Given the circumstances, there is little reason for the American people to have confidence in this investigation.”