SHOCKING! IRS ADMITS TARGETING CONSERVATIVE GROUPS FOR EXTRA SCRUTENY

(Reuters) - Tax auditors inappropriately targeted applications from conservative political groups seeking tax-exempt status, an Internal Revenue Service official acknowledged on Friday.

Director of the IRS tax-exempt office, Lois Lerner,, said the practice "was absolutely incorrect and it was inappropriate."

She spoke at an American Bar Association conference in Washington, "We would like to apologize for that."

She also noted that no groups given extra scrutiny weren't yet rejected for tax-exempt status.

In 2012, on the Glenn Beck Program, guests members of conservative groups such the Tea Party and other patriot Organizations said they were being unfairly treated by the IRS in their tax empt status.   

That said, Lerner admitted that conservative groups with Tea Party or Patriot in their names   were flagged by the IRS for further review and something.

The inappropriate screening process was "absolutely not" influenced by anyone in the Obama administration, Lerner said. Tax-exempt applications, ranging from hospitals to labor unions, are reviewed by IRS career civil servants.

Known as 501(c)(4)groups after the section of the tax code that makes them tax-exempt, the groups can collect money from anonymous donors and spend it on advertising. To stay tax-exempt, they cannot endorse a candidate or political party.