(CNN) – President Barack Obama has directed Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to hold accountable those who made mistakes in the Internal Revenue Service's scrutiny of conservative groups.
The president released a statement Tuesday night firmly condemning the IRS' action after a report from the agency's inspector general found that the IRS used "inappropriate criteria" to identify potential political applications and then forwarded those applications to a team of specialists for review.
The report found that the criteria resulted in substantial delays in processing of applications and the request of unnecessary information about the groups.
Saying he's "now had the opportunity" to look at the report, Obama said the findings are "intolerable and inexcusable."
"The federal government must conduct itself in a way that's worthy of the public's trust, and that's especially true for the IRS. The IRS must apply the law in a fair and impartial way, and its employees must act with utmost integrity," he said. "This report shows that some of its employees failed that test."
Obama has ordered Lew to ensure that each of the inspector general's recommendations are implemented soon, "so that such conduct never happens again."
"But regardless of how this conduct was allowed to take place, the bottom line is, it was wrong. Public service is a solemn privilege," the president said. "I expect everyone who serves in the federal government to hold themselves to the highest ethical and moral standards. So do the American people. And as president, I intend to make sure our public servants live up to those standards every day."
His statement goes further than his comments on Monday about the issue, in which he said "if" personnel "in fact" did what the IRS admitted it had done, then their mistakes would be considered "outrageous."
See the full statement below:
I have now had the opportunity to review the Treasury Department watchdog’s report on its investigation of IRS personnel who improperly targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. And the report’s findings are intolerable and inexcusable. The federal government must conduct itself in a way that’s worthy of the public’s trust, and that’s especially true for the IRS. The IRS must apply the law in a fair and impartial way, and its employees must act with utmost integrity. This report shows that some of its employees failed that test.I’ve directed Secretary Lew to hold those responsible for these failures accountable, and to make sure that each of the Inspector General’s recommendations are implemented quickly, so that such conduct never happens again. But regardless of how this conduct was allowed to take place, the bottom line is, it was wrong. Public service is a solemn privilege. I expect everyone who serves in the federal government to hold themselves to the highest ethical and moral standards. So do the American people. And as President, I intend to make sure our public servants live up to those standards every day.