Even though a federal judge gave preliminary approval to a $3.5 million settlement of a lawsuit against the IRS over alleged targeting of tea party groups and other conservative organizations, no one will be held criminally liable for the targeting:

IT’S TOO BAD THAT THIS CASE WASN’T REOPENED:

The Obama Justice Department announced in 2015 that no one at the IRS would be prosecuted. It said investigators found mismanagement, but no evidence that the tax agency had targeted a political group based on its viewpoints or had obstructed justice.

JULY 10TH HEARING

WT reports:

U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett set a July 10 hearing in Cincinnati on making the settlement final, and scheduled deadlines for claims and objections.

The 2013 lawsuit during the Barack Obama administration was over treatment of conservative groups who said they were singled out for extra IRS scrutiny on tax-exempt status applications.

“These are groups of law-abiding citizens who should have never had their First Amendment rights infringed upon by the IRS,” Jenny Beth Martin, president of the Tea Party Patriots umbrella group. “These are groups that want the government to be accountable.”

Republicans were outraged in 2013 when the IRS admitted the targeting, in part by zeroing in on groups with words such as “tea party” or “patriot” in their names. Many had their applications delayed for months and years. Some were asked improper questions about their donors and even their religious practices, an inspector general’s report found.

WHO CAN FORGET THE EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY OF TEA PARTY  LEADER BECKY GERRITSON: