Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) spoke out against the IRS’ admission that they placed extra scrutiny on tax forms for conservative groups, singling out words like “tea party” and “patriot” to raise the flag. This is what he had to say, Politico reports:

“I’m offended when any kind of government entity targets people for their political or religious beliefs. It’s particularly offensive, particularly since I’m one of the groups they were targeting,” Paul said. “They didn’t audit me personally,” he added. “But government should never be used to bully people.”

The IRS blames lower level officials for the political targeting, belying the question how these lower level officials had the authority to make the targeting a widespread practice. Paul stated that he doesn’t know enough about the case yet to say “what kind of investigation should unfold.”

But whatever the case may be, there must be a way to uncover and punish the IRS’ misconduct. Singling out particular political organizations based on their views is exactly what Paul described — the government bullying the people. And this part of the government, the Internal Revenue Service, must be held accountable for their actions.