FOXNews.com: White House battles new claims on IRS scandal, as agency chief heads to Hill

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White House battles new claims on IRS scandal, as agency chief heads to Hill Jun 3rd 2013, 18:09 The White House on Monday stood by claims that administration officials were not involved in the IRS' targeting of Tea Party groups following new allegations that the program was guided by Washington -- as the agency's newly installed acting chief prepared to face Congress for the first time.  Acting IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel will appear before a subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee on Monday afternoon. Werfel is likely to be asked about two growing controversies -- over the targeting of conservative groups, and also over a forthcoming inspector general report expected to show the agency spent roughly $50 million on conferences from 2010 to 2012.  White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday the administration is "concerned" about both developments. But he defended the administration following claims by an unnamed IRS employee that the targeting program was guided by Washington.  The inspector general, Carney said, "both in testimony and in his report, found no evidence that outsiders -- those outside the IRS -- influenced the behavior that took place there."  He said: "That is the conclusion of the independent inspector general. And we certainly have seen no other evidence to contradict that."  Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., on Sunday called Carney a "paid liar" as he discussed the IRS situation. Carney said Monday he's "not going to get into a back-and-forth with" Issa.  Issa was pointing to interviews with an IRS field agent involved in the division that targeted Tea Party groups. Partial transcripts were released Sunday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which Issa chairs.  The agent in the Cincinnati office told congressional investigators that he or she was told by a supervisor in March 2010 to search for Tea Party groups applying for tax-exempt status and that "Washington, D.C., wanted some cases."  The agent said that by April the office had held up roughly 40 cases and at least seven were sent to Washington. The agent also said a second IRS employee asked for information on two other specific applicants in which Washington was interested in.  When asked by congressional investigators about allegations and press reports about two agents in Cincinnati essentially being responsible for the targeting, the agent responded:  "It's impossible. As an agent we are controlled by many, many people. We have to submit many, many reports. So the chance of two agents being rogue and doing things like that could never happen. ... They were basically throwing us underneath the bus."  The administration has denied involvement in the scandal, repeatedly saying it was limited to the Cincinnati office.  Still, involvement of IRS officials in Washington does not necessarily mean anyone at the Treasury Department level or above was involved.  Carney urged lawmakers to wait for investigators to gather the facts before reaching a judgment on the matter.

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