The Internal Revenue Service apologized last Friday for what it said was “inappropriate” targeting of conservative political groups during the 2012 election.

The IRS admits that it singled out dozens of organizations for additional reviews and audits because the name of the organization included “Tea Party” or “Patriot” on exemption applications, stated Lois Lerner, who is the head of the IRS division that overseas tax exempt groups. The Service admits that in some cases these groups were asked for a list of donors, which is a violation of IRS policy.

The Service claims that no high level employees were involved in this inappropriate behavior. Many Republicans aren’t buying that. Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, out of Kentucky was quoted as saying, “I call on the White House to conduct a transparent government-wide review aimed at assuring the American people that these thuggish practices are not underway at the IRS or elsewhere in the Administration against anyone, regardless of their political views.”

White House spokesman, Jay Carney, agreed it was inappropriate for the IRS to target Tea Party groups. He refused to answer questions about whether the White House itself would investigate these practices. He did state that the Administration expects a thorough investigation by the Treasury Department.

Ms. Lerner further stated, “The IRS would like to apologize for that” referring to the inappropriate reviews.

About 75 groups were targeted. None of them had their tax exempt status revoked.