The Internal Revenue Service is branching into surveillance territory of its own after submitting a purchase request for cameras and recording equipment small enough to be hidden in average household items.

Requested micro surveillance equipment is manufactured to be easily hidden in coffee trays, plants and clock radios according to CNS News. The order was opened with a brief fulfillment request from June 6 — 10, and was recently pushed to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11.

The IRS did not disclose the purpose for the equipment, nor the company fulfilling the purchase, though a provider has been secured.

Four hidden plant colored cameras, four covert coffee tray cameras, four remote surveillance systems with DVD burners and internal hard drives, two concealed clock radio cameras, and four concealable color cameras are being sought.

Solicitation fulfillment requests were directed to IRS contract specialist Ricardo Carter, and were only open to private company bids for 19 hours before opening up to outside vendors — after which it would go to the company originally sought by the agency.

The request surfaces after recent revelations about abuses and overreach by the IRS, including the targeting of conservative political non-profits and wasteful overspending at an annual conference.

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