Obama Releases Official Statement on IRS Scandal: 'Intolerable' & 'Inexcusable

President Barack Obama. (Getty Images)

President Barack Obama in an official statement released Tuesday evening condemned the Internal Revenue Service for targeting conservative groups, calling the agency's actions “intolerable” and “inexcusable.”

"I have now had the opportunity to review the Treasury Department watchdog’s report on its investigation of the IRS personnel who improperly targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status. And the report’s findings are intolerable and inexcusable," the statement reads.

"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," it adds.

The statement continues:

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 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.

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Featured image courtesy Getty Images.