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Published October 23, 2014

A federal judge has dismissed all counts of a lawsuit filed by a Tea Party group against the IRS claiming it was targeted for special scrutiny.

Judge Reggie B. Walton said that the case was no longer relevant since the IRS eventually approved tax-exempt status for the group in question, Texas-based True the Vote. He added that the IRS has said it has taken steps to address the alleged targeting of conservative groups.

Unless an actual, ongoing controversy exists in this case, this Court is without power to decide it, Walton wrote in his decision.

The group in question, True the Vote, alleged in the lawsuit that the IRS made numerous unnecessary, burdensome, and unlawful requests about its activities, saying it was selected for special scrutiny because it used names like Tea Party in its application for non-profit status.

True the Vote was seeking a permanent order that forbade the IRS from ever targeting a conservative group for special scrutiny again, as well as monetary damages. The group argued that even though it was eventually granted tax-exempt status, the IRS could target it or other groups again.

A spokesman for True the Vote, which is a non-profit that seeks to stop voter fraud, told Fox News the group is weighing its options.

True the Vote is appreciative of the D.C. District Court's service and opinion on this matter and is currently considering all legal options, Logan Churchwell said. Further description of next steps will be announced in due course.

Rep. Jim Jordan called the decisions a sad ruling for liberty, saying it makes no sense because the group was targeted because of its political affiliation.

If that isnt unwarranted harassment, I dont know what is, Jordan, R-Ohio, said. If such grievances dont warrant redress by our federal courts, I dont know what does.

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Judge dismisses Tea Party group's lawsuit against IRS over targeting

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Newswise Foreign policy looms large as the 2014 midterm elections approach. But traditional conservatives and their tea party counterparts may bring different concerns and motivations to the November ballot, according to a University of Washington political scientist.

While traditional conservatives seem most motivated by concern over American security, Christopher Parker, UW professor of political science, suggests that those identifying as tea party conservatives have somewhat more mixed motivations, linked with agitation over the Obama presidency and stemming from a feeling of "losing their country" to a "decline of American ethno-cultural dominance."

"There is no such thing as 'conservative' foreign policy if it means that all conservatives speak with a single voice," Parker said. "Instead, conservatives are divided on what motivates their foreign policy preferences: securing American interests, or ethno-cultural threat."

Parker and co-author Rachel Blum, a doctoral student at Georgetown University, came to this view after reviewing recent literature on public attitudes toward foreign policy and examining the 2012 American National Election Study, an in-person and Internet survey of about 6,000 voters by Stanford University and the University of Michigan. They published their views in the October 17, 2014, "Issues in Governance Studies" report, published by the Brookings Institution.

The election study, they say, revealed a wide difference between traditional or "establishment" conservatives and their tea party counterparts on the question of whether America was safer than in 2008. Fully 70 percent of tea party conservatives disagreed that America had grown safer in the intervening years, compared to about 39 percent of traditional conservatives.

They noted a significant but smaller difference when respondents were asked if U.S. strength had increased since 2008: Far more tea party conservatives about 90 percent disagreed, compared with about 70 percent among more traditional conservatives.

"At first glance, these are fairly innocuous questions," the researchers wrote. "However, upon closer inspection, 2008 coincides with the beginning of the Obama administration. This makes it likely that respondents are thinking about Obama and his administration's leadership when they are answering these questions."

Asked about foreign policy toward Iran, tea partyers and traditional conservatives were in near-total agreement that invasion was not a viable option, but tea partyers more heavily favored only economic sanctions as well as the possible bombing of Iran nuclear sites.

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Traditional, Tea Party Conservatives Seem Split on Foreign Policy

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The IRS may have inadvertently figured out how to win its legal battles against aggrieved tea party groups: Give them what they wanted in the first place tax-exempt status.

That was a major reason a Republican-appointed federal judge on Thursday threw out two lawsuits brought by more than 40 conservative groups seeking remedies for being singled out in the tea party targeting scandal, a victory for the IRS.

Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia dismissed almost all counts brought against the tax-collecting agency in two cases, ruling that both were essentially moot now that the IRS granted the groups their tax-exempt status that had been held up for years.

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Walton, a President George W. Bush-appointee, also said individual IRS officials could not be fined in their individual capacity for allowing such treatment because it could hurt future tax enforcement.

The ruling, which the groups could appeal, has serious implications for tea party groups suing the IRS, suggesting they may never receive compensation for the long waits they endured for a ruling on their status.

The inspector general report that ignited the targeting controversy last year found that applications sat in limbo for as long as several years and that the groups were asked inappropriate questions about their donors, political affiliations and random things like social media posts.

Republicans said they were outraged at Waltons decision.

(POLITICO's polling center)

You get targeted and harassed for three years but, oh, because you finally get [tax-exempt status], the three years of harassment doesnt mean anything? asked Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who heads a congressional subpanel investigating the controversy. I find that argument lacking tremendously in light of what these people went through.

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IRS notches win in tea party cases

A federal court shot down a tea party groups effort to permanently bar the Internal Revenue Service from targeting conservative groups for special scrutiny, issuing a ruling Thursday that says the tax agency has taken enough steps to correct the problem.

Judge Reggie B. Walton also refused the request by True the Vote, a Texas-based group that tries to combat election fraud, to make Lois G. Lerner and other current and former IRS employees pay a penalty for having blocked the groups tax-exempt status and made intrusive inquiries into the groups activities.

Without ruling on whether the initial targeting was unlawful, Judge Walton said there was no longer a case because the IRS eventually did approve tax-exempt status.

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True the Vote argued that the IRS was pressured into stopping the targeting but could restart it at any time. The group asked the court to issue an order prohibiting the IRS from targeting, but the judge declined.

The defendants grant of tax-exempt status to the plaintiff, and the defendants suspension of the alleged IRS targeting scheme during the tax-exempt application process, including remedial steps to address the alleged conduct, coupled with the reduced concern about the recurrence of objectionable behavior government actors convinces the court that the voluntary cessation exception is not applicable here, wrote Judge Walton, who was appointed to U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by President George W. Bush.

A True the Vote spokesman didnt have an immediate comment when reached by phone Thursday. The IRS also didnt comment.

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True the Vote applied for tax-exempt status in 2010 but was not granted approval until last year. The groups mission is to try to clean up voter registration rolls and spot election fraud.

Catherine Engelbrecht said that after she founded the organization, the federal government took an extraordinary amount of interest in her business and her personal activities. Authorities from the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration made inquiries with her or with King Street Patriots, another tea party group with which she was affiliated.

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Federal judge tosses tea party suit seeking permanent protection from IRS targeting