US Senator McCain Denies Role in Tax Agency Targeting of Conservatives

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On April 9, Judicial Watch released a batch of IRS documents, revealing that IRS official Lois Lerner was pressured by both Democrat Senator Carl Levin and Republican Senator John McCain for IRS action against conservative political advocacy groups, according to a Judicial Watch press release.

“A recent press release by Judicial Watch sparked a series of online reports falsely claiming that my office was somehow involved in the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups — reports that are demonstrably untrue and totally contradicted by all of my actions over the past several years on this issue,” McCain said on Monday.

McCain stressed that he was in total disagreement with Senate Democrats over the issue of targeting conservative groups, according to the release.

“These reports ignore the fact that I released a 37-page dissenting report last September refuting the Democrats’ Majority Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) report claiming the IRS showed no bias against conservative groups,” McCain added.

On Monday, Judicial Watch denied in a press release that it had said the government documents establish that McCain or his staff had pressured IRS to target or attack conservatives, in a press release.

Judicial Watch is a non-partisan educational foundation that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law, according to the foundation’s website.