“we’ve forced the IRS to admit that they in fact were the ones to break the law”

The Washington Examiner reports on a $50,000 settlement the IRS has been forced to pay to settle a lawsuit.

The IRS has agreed to pay $50,000 to a conservative organization who sued the agency over allegations that it released its private donor list to a rival group in 2012.

The National Organization for Marriage, a group that opposes same-sex marriage, last fall filed a lawsuit against the IRS, accusing it of illegally disclosing its donor list to the Human Rights Campaign, a top advocate for gay rights and gay marriage.

And then:

NOM Chairman John Eastman said the IRS at first argued that it had done nothing wrong and said NOM must have released the information itself, adding that the $50,000 payment shows that the IRS admitted to illegally leaking the donor list.

“Thanks to a lot of hard work, we’ve forced the IRS to admit that they in fact were the ones to break the law and wrongfully released this confidential information,” he said in a statement.

Releasing confidential taxpayer information is a felony.

Government power at work.