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Schock Says More to Find in IRS Case

Congressman Schock's Office

A member of Illinois' Congressional delegation continues to look into why certain groups seeking tax exempt status were targeted for additional scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which is questioning acting IRS commissioner Danny Werfel this week.

Several days ago, Congressional Democrats released documents showing the IRS also targeted groups with keywords like “progressive” in their names.

A spokesman for Rep. Schock said what the IRS did was “discrimination” and that the Ways and Means Committee will  “make sure it never happens again to any group who is following the law and applying for tax exempt status.”

The Congressman’s office said there is still not evidence that these other groups received the same type of extra scrutiny that Conservative and Tea Party groups did.

Western Illinois University Political Science Professor, Rick Hardy, said he thinks the continued investigation is warranted.

Hardy, who studies constitutional law, said he thinks what has been discovered so far is “the tip of the iceberg.”

"So it's taken some time to unfurl, unfortunately, it's become a partisan issue, but I think it's something all Americans ought to be concerned with," Hardy said.

Hardy believes that conservative groups may have several valid constitutional issues with which to file lawsuits.

He also thinks that the full extent of the how and why certain groups were targeted has not been fully uncovered.

Scott Stuntz is a former reporter at Tri States Public Radio.