The government watchdog Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, insisting the agency release previously demanded documents made under a Freedom of Information Act request that would clarify how conservative groups were screened for nonprofit status.

Judicial Watch filed the suit on Oct. 9 but announced it Tuesday. President Tom Fitton said in a written statement that the suit was “designed to cut through the Obama administration cover-up of its IRS scandal.”

Specifically, the watchdog said it wanted the IRS to release copies of “all communications relating to the review process for organizations seeking 501(c)(4) nonprofit status since January 1, 2012.” The group also asked the court “to order the IRS to provide records of communications by former IRS official Lois Lerner concerning the controversial review and approval process.”

Judicial Watch said it’s taking the court route to obtain the records because the IRS has failed to uphold FOIA on four requests, dating back to May 2013 — as news of the agency’s seeming biased delay of granting tax exemptions to conservative groups seeking nonprofit status was rocking national headlines.

“The Obama IRS suppressed the entire tea party movement just in time to help Obama win reelection,” said Mr. Fitton, in a written statement. “One of the most pressing questions, of course, is, ‘What did the president know and when did he know it?’ We know that former IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman and his political aide, Jonathan Davis, visited the White House hundreds of times during the Obama IRS witch hunt. This may help explain why the IRS is now stonewalling our FOIA requests and forced us to go to federal court.”

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