They were not law abiding Americans.

can someone please tell me what the CHARITABLE activities of these 501c4's are? it's supposed to be 51% of their expenditures, right?

or is it 49% political expenditures, 51% office lease & salaries?

Well, sure, targeting specific political orgs for extra scrutiny is messed up, even if I think Tea Partiers are a bunch of lunatics. But criminal?

What laws, specifically, were violated, Bobby? What criminal statutes?

And just what "freedoms" were taken away? From what I've read, not a single one of these groups was actually denied the tax exemption they wanted. They were simply delayed and subject to extra questioning.

The IRS idiots that came up with this plan should be subject to dismissal or retraining. But jail? Don't be absurd.

@4 c4's are not charities they are social welfare orgs. Social welfare is broadly defined under tax law. Things like HOA's are c4's as are civic leagues, social clubs, and a whole host of other non-profit non-charities.

They can lobby and educate, and even be directly involved in elections.

Contributions to them are only tax deductible in very limited circumstances.

The real scandal - the one Republicans want to tap dance and twill fire batons to keep you from noticing - is the abundance of Tea Party and Conservative PACs applying for tax-exempt status under 501(c)(4) which is reserved for organizations who do not participate in any way with political causes. Additionally, these groups do not have to specify where their donations come from. So, the IRS got caught investigating this type of abuse and the Republicans are using it to divert attention away from the real crime.

If the IRS had stated months ago that they were going to crack down on these practices, it would have taken all the wind out of the GOP's sails. The Obama administration needs to be first to point fingers and accuse and stop waiting around - in an effort to once more get bi-partisan support (which will never happen). Obama needs to point fingers and tell the American people who the real slimy, slithery crooks are and stop worrying about offending the other side.

Such gall the Right/Tea Party/Conservatives have. So indignant. So abused.

What about Mega-Millions lottery winners?

Why doesn't Occupy sit in their living rooms?

Non sequitur

Extremist rhetoric intended to appeal to extremists and therefore buoy up his troubled POTUS bid. Nothing to see here.

@2 (sgt. doom): Yup, I think I read about the ICIJ-prompted tax-evasion investigation in the Guardian but didn't catch any US news site headlines about it. And if memory serves, even in the Guardian article US participation was only mentioned in passing.

Following up on your day-before/day-after analytical framework, I noticed that Harry Reid started jiggling the filibuster-reform keys in front of Democratic voters -- yet again -- not long after the AP scandal broke, and that Obama hinted that he might support it this time. Mmm-HMM. Sure. Anything you say, Harry and Barry...

Personally, I don't have a problem with the IRS giving extra scrutiny to organizations that (as part of their manifesto) urge their followers to do everything within their power to avoid paying taxes to the IRS.

@15: You're missing the point. The IRS can already go after those who have not met their tax obligations, but giving unreasonable scrutiny to groups who are advocating changes tax policy (and then giving that data to pro-liberal groups like ProPubica) is as reprehensible as the IRS, let's say in a Republican administration, going after Planned Parenthood.
I'm sure that you prefer a non-partisan IRS during Republican administrations just as much as your adversaries prefer a non-partisan IRS during Democratic administrations.

@15 - or on the other hand, if you want to eliminate tax exempt 501c groups altogether and bring in even more revenue for the government - that's a reasonable idea.