'''Lois Gail Lerner''' (born October 12, 1950) is an American attorney and former [[United States federal civil service]] employee. Lerner became director of the [[Tax exemption|Exempt Organizations Unit]] of the [[Internal Revenue Service]] (IRS) in 2005, and subsequently became the central figure in the 2013 [[IRS targeting controversy]] in the targeting of conservative groups, either denying them tax-exempt status outright or delaying that status until they could no longer take effective part in the [[2012 United States presidential election|2012 election]]. ConservativeBoth andconservative NOTand liberal groups were scrutinized.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/us/politics/irs-targeting-tea-party-liberals-democrats.html |title=In Targeting Political Groups, I.R.S. Crossed Party Lines |work=New York Times |date=October 5, 2017}}</ref> Only three groups - all branches of the Democratic group Emerge America - had tax exemptions revoked.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/business/advocacy-groups-denied-tax-exempt-status-are-named.html |title=3 Groups Denied Break by I.R.S. Are Named |work=New York Times |date=July 21, 2001}}</ref> Lerner resigned over the controversy. An investigation by the [[U.S. Department of Justice]] and [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]], completed in 2015, found "substantial evidence of mismanagement, poor judgment and institutional inertia" but "found no evidence that any IRS official acted based on political, discriminatory, corrupt, or other inappropriate motives that would support a criminal prosecution."<ref name="Phelps"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/23/politics/lois-lerner-no-charges-doj-tea-party/ |accessdate=30 June 2016 |title=First on CNN: DOJ closes IRS investigation with no charges |work=CNN |date=October 23, 2015}}</ref>