'Cincinnati Enquirer' sues to open secret Tea Party hearing

Dan Horn | The Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Judge to IRS: 'Strong showing' of anti-Tea Party bias claim A judge has ruled that there was a 'strong showing' the IRS had a bias against Tea Party groups.

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Enquirer asked a federal judge Tuesday to open a secret court hearing about Tea Party bias claims against the IRS, arguing the media and the public have a vested interest in the proceedings.

"The First Amendment protects the press's right to gather news," wrote Jack Greiner, The Enquirer's lawyer. "Given the nature of these proceedings, any decision by this court to prevent public access will add to the suspicion and mistrust already raised by the allegations."

Mistrust is at the heart of the Tea Party's case against the IRS, which is accused of singling out conservative-leaning public interest groups for extra attention while reviewing applications for tax-exempt status.

A civil lawsuit brought by several of those Tea Party-affiliated groups is now before Judge Michael Barrett in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. The judge, however, has kept some court filings secret and has closed a hearing scheduled for Friday.

He's done so at the urging of Lois Lerner and Holly Paz, IRS officials who oversaw the applications in the IRS' nonprofit division, which is based in Cincinnati.

Lerner and Paz both say their lives are in danger if they testify publicly about the handling of the groups' applications. They say they have been harassed and received death threats when their roles at the IRS first were disclosed several years ago.

The two women recently provided the judge with documentation, which was not made public, containing "graphic, profane and disturbing language" from people they say have threatened them.

Lawyers for the Tea Party groups say the public's right to know outweighs any concerns raised by Lerner and Paz.

The Enquirer asked Barrett, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, for permission to intervene in the case to argue for an open hearing.

"Allowing (Lerner and Paz) to keep these judicial records secret would not only deprive The Enquirer of its ability to report on the conduct of the litigation, but also deny the public its ability to assess for itself the merits of judicial decisions," Greiner wrote.

The lawsuit against the IRS is one of several filed in 2013 after the agency acknowledged it had singled out some groups for special attention. A Senate subcommittee reached the same conclusion in 2014, but found no evidence of political bias.

Applications for some liberal-leaning groups also were delayed, but about 80% of groups affected were conservative.

Lerner, the agency's former exempt organization director, resigned over the scandal and Paz was reassigned. Paz has previously said the nonprofit division was overwhelmed by applications from conservative groups and employees struggled with how to respond.