The Lerner Report

Lois G. Lerner, the now-retired Director of IRS Exempt Organizations, was extensively involved in targeting conservative-oriented tax-exempt applicants for inappropriate scrutiny. The Lerner report. http://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Lerner-Report1.pdf

And I don't believe she made these decisions to target conservative groups without instruction from those above her.

It’s apparent that Lerner became very impatient waiting for changes in the law, and just decided to take matters into her own hands.

“Republicans are fighting back against proposed new IRS rules that they say would make formal the tax agency’s infamous crackdown on Tea Party groups that oppose the Obama agenda, stripping them of their free speech rights during election cycles. The new rules, first unveiled around Thanksgiving when no one was  paying attention, would prevent so-called 501(c)(4) social welfare/advocacy groups from participating in certain kinds of political activity. Such nonprofit organizations would be prevented from communicating with voters about candidates or political parties within 60 days of a general  election.   “Every American needs to know about this abuse of power,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) said in a recent speech on the Senate floor. Although new IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said he did not participate in drafting the rules, he has refused demands to block their implementation. Senate Democrats such as Mark Begich (Alaska) and Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.) are demanding that the IRS crack down further on right-leaning nonprofits like Americans for Prosperity.” CRC Organization Trends, March 2013