Posted by Sir Four at 8:58am Jun 20 '13Cummings had demanded Issa release the transcript of a key IRS employee in this so-called scandal or else explain why such a release would harm the investigation. Issa failed to comply on either count, so Cummings went ahead and released the transcript.
The transcript reveals the IRS employee, a self-described conservative Republican, describing his own involvement in the scrutiny of tea party groups... describes the process his office followed, and denies any Obama administration involvement.
This blows up Issa's witch-hunt, which is why he didn't want the transcript released.
As for the number of applications for tax exemption the IRS must handle, it was stated to be about 70,000 per year. The rationale of separating out tea party groups seems to have been that a) there is a higher likelihood for political activity that would violate the tax-exempt rules, and b) this IRS employee decided it would be appropriate to group them together and have them handled in a consistent way. Whether this was right or wrong seems to be a judgement call. However, it's pretty clear that there is no Whitehouse scandal here.