FOXNews.com: IRS lawyer testifies that political appointee's office involved in Tea Party screening

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IRS lawyer testifies that political appointee's office involved in Tea Party screening Jul 18th 2013, 15:50 A veteran IRS lawyer testified on Thursday that officials from a Washington office led by a political appointee intervened in the screening of Tea Party applications, saying publicly for the first time the IRS chief counsel's office was involved in the controversial program.  Carter Hull, a recently retired tax law specialist, gave his first-hand account during testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.  Hull had earlier come under scrutiny after an employee in the Cincinnati IRS office told congressional investigators that he had been micro-managing her review of Tea Party groups' applications for tax-exempt status. But Hull revealed that he, too, was taking orders from up the chain of command.  Hull specifically said he was told to forward documents to an adviser for embattled IRS official Lois Lerner -- who first revealed the targeting of Tea Party groups and has since refused to answer lawmakers' questions. But Hull said he was then told to send documents to the Office of Chief Counsel for their review -- which is led by political appointee William Wilkins.  At an August 2011 meeting, Hull said, someone from the chief counsel's office said additional information was needed from Tea Party applicants that Hull was dealing with, and that a second letter should be sent out requesting more information.  These letters have since been cited by Tea Party groups as part of a drawn-out process that in some cases left them without any resolution for years. Hull said during his testimony that the multi-level layer of review was "unusual." And he said the Cincinnati office was stuck on applications because he, too, was waiting for guidance from the chief counsel's office.  House Republicans first revealed a day earlier that they'd been told of higher-level involvement at the IRS.  According to Republicans, Hull revealed to them that he tried to move forward with approving or denying applications, but Lerner ruled that the applications should go through the chief counsel's office and Lerner's senior adviser. According to Republicans, Hull indicated it was the first time in a nearly 50-year career that he had to send applications to Lerner's senior adviser.  Lerner has so far refused to testify. She invoked her Fifth Amendment rights at one hearing, but Republicans later voted that she had in fact waived those rights by delivering a statement.  "We intend to have her back," Issa told Fox News on Wednesday.  There could be fireworks at Thursday's hearing, as Democrats also intend to use the forum to press their claims that Inspector General J. Russell George is suppressing details about other non-Tea Party groups being targeted. Democrats on Wednesday trumpeted comments from Werfel that George contacted him to object to documents being released that supposedly pertained to other categories of groups experiencing delays.  Some Democrats have argued that liberal groups received similar treatment, though George - who was called to testify on Thursday -- has generally denied that they were targeted like conservative groups were.  Issa said Thursday that the committee will take up any "credible" accusations pertaining to inspectors general, but as of now "stand solidly behind" their efforts.

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