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Chris Matthews Slams IRS For Tea Party 'Profiling' Like TSA Targeting Arabs

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5/22/13 - Chris Matthews continues to be one of the biggest liberal critics of the IRS tea party targeting scandal that culminated in two big testimonies on Capitol Hill today. During an interview with former IRS director Marcus Owens, Matthews likened singling out tea party groups for extra scrutiny to singling out "everybody that looks Arab" at the airport. Matthews asked why someone working at the IRS going through all the applications for tax-exempt status would just focus on tea party groups to make it easier, describing it as "profiling." Owens attempted to explain just how arduous the task of IRS agents are, but Matthews interrupted to ask why they would specifically single out groups with the phrases "patriot" or "tea party' in their name. Owens allowed that the criteria should have been more objective and non-partisan. He provided a number of criteria to examine, but Matthews likened the targeting to racial profiling at airports. "Is this like--I go to the airport and I'm running TSA, instead of deciding based upon people's movements around the world that might be suspicious, going to countries that have caused us trouble--I just look for everybody that looks Arab. And I put them in one line. The American people would say that's outrageous."

capitol hill

Chris Matthews Slams IRS For Tea Party 'Profiling' Like TSA Targeting Arabs

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