U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, asks: U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew: “Are you or is the IRS taking the position that somehow this coalition of audits that focused on people from these political perspectives just happened accidently?”

The man who led the Internal Revenue Service when it was giving extra scrutiny to tea party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status told Congress on Tuesday that he knew little about what was happening while he was still commissioner. Douglas Shulman, who vacated his position last November when his five-year term expired, told the Senate Finance Committee he didn’t learn all the facts until he read last week’s report by a Treasury inspector general confirming the targeting strategy. In his first public remarks since the story broke, Shulman said: “I agree this is an issue that when someone spotted it, they should have brought it up the chain. And they didn’t. I don’t know why”/Associated Press. More here.

Question: Do you think this targeting of Tea Party groups just happened?