The press is reporting both that IRS chief the Bush appointee who was running the IRS in May of 2012 knew about what the IRS was doing in their Ohio office and that the now acting commissioner also knew in May.
This narrative presumes that the IRS was guilty of targeting conservatives, which has actually not been proven yet. What is established is that the IRS was investigating some conservative groups. But since Citizens United, the vast majority of groups founded requesting tax exempt status are conservative groups. Thus, mathematically, conservative groups are more likely to be investigated.
Who told the press that the Bush appointee knew in May? It turns out that is the interpretation of Republican congressional aides, who were not named in the Washington Post (my bold):
Moreover, details of the IRS’s efforts to target conservative groups reached the highest levels of the agency in May 2012, far earlier than has been disclosed, according to Republican congressional aides briefed by the IRS and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration TIGTA on the details of their reviews.
Then-Commissioner Douglas Shulman, a George W. Bush appointee who stepped down in November, received a briefing from the TIGTA about what was happening in the Cincinnati office in May 2012, the aides said. His deputy and the agency’s current acting commissioner, Steven T. Miller, also learned about the matter that month, the aides said.
This would seem to suggest that Republicans would be upset with then-Commissioner Douglas Shulman, the Bush appointee, as thanks to Republican obstruction regarding Obama’s appointments, the IRS has no official leader currently. There is an acting Commissioner of the IRS, Steve Miller, who took that position on November 9th of 2012. Republicans refused to allow Obama to appoint an IRS chief before the election, because they thought the “next president” should get to do that. The position of IRS Commissioner is appointed by the President with Senate confirmation. It’s mid May now, and the post remains empty.
MORE: The IRS Scandal Disintegrates into Wild and Unproven Republican Accusations.