“Is it unreasonable to target an anti-tax group?”

Maher acknowledged that the IRS scandal is a legitimate one, but said it’s not really that big since Obama wasn’t involved. Andrew Ross Sorkin took issue with that, arguing that the administration “clearly understood what was happening,” and acknowledged that while “rogue folks” might have started this but ultimately it’s a management problem that involves the White House.

Maher asked, “Is it unreasonable to target an anti-tax group?” He likened the IRS targeting tea party groups to the police taking cop-killing cases seriously. S.E. Cupp maintained that the tax code should not be used to punish people, while Michael Moore argued that these groups don’t deserve tax-exempt status in the first place. He said tea party groups are only upset over a “longer questionnaire,” but he admitted that liberals have also been unfairly targeted by the agency.