Lew: IRS actions “inexcusable” and urges acting director to hold people accountable

WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew says the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative political groups was “unacceptable and inexcusable” and he has directed the agency’s acting director to hold people accountable.

Lew told the Senate Banking Committee that he has also asked acting director Daniel Werfel to fix any flaws in management of the IRS to make sure there is no recurrence of the problems.

An inspector general’s report released May 15 found that IRS employees had inappropriately targeted conservative political groups.

Lew says he first learned about the inspector general’s investigation in March but that he was unaware of the findings until they became public this month.