The IRS targeted a national security organization that criticized the Obama administration’s response to Benghazi, reports the Wall Street Journal. The group, Secure America Now is a nonprofit that promotes "U.S. national security related to North Korea, Iran, Israel and Libya."
SAN’s misadventure with the IRS resembles the harassment of the tea party groups. Its IRS application has been stuck in a never-ending review process that started in April 2011. Most groups get approval for their 501(c)(4) tax exempt status within a year, according to nonprofit lawyers. SAN’s application for tax exempt status has twice been held up by the agency. The IRS inspector general found that some groups have been in legal limbo for more than three years.
The IRS began to closely scrutinize SAN activities after it produced a video (now viewed more than 4 million times) highly critical of how President Obama handled the Benghazi crisis. When SAN ran radio and television ads in Florida and Ohio in the weeks before the election, the IRS intensified its investigation. The group spent about $8 million in 2012.
