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House panel says former IRS official may have committed crimes in tea party targeting

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House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp , R-Mich., left, and the committee\'s ranking member, Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich., exchange words on Capitol hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 9, 2014, during a disagreement over procedure as the panel debates whether IRS official Lois Lerner’s refusal to testify to Congress deserves criminal prosecution. After Rep. Levin’s insistence that he, the top Democrat, be heard, Chairman Camp told Levin to “chill out.” Levin replied that he was “very chilled out.” Ways and Means wants the Justice Department to open a criminal probe against Lerner. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON – The House Ways and Means Committee has voted to refer a former Internal Revenue Service official to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution in the agency’s tea party controversy.

Committee investigators say they have uncovered evidence that Lois Lerner may have violated the constitutional rights of conservative groups, misled investigators and was reckless with confidential taxpayer information.

Lerner, who retired last year, headed the IRS division that processes applications for tax-exempt status. The agency has acknowledged that agents improperly singled out tea party and other conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status from 2010 to 2012.

The Justice Department is already investigating whether any crimes have been committed. Lerner’s lawyer, who says she has committed no crimes, called the committee’s action “ridiculous.”

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