The IRS passed tea-party applications from the hands of a 48-year IRS veteran, Carter Hull, to an agent who had been at the agency just four months, Hull told members of the House Oversight Committee on Thursday. 

Two tea-party “test” cases, intended to serve as templates for the handlind of the remainder of the tea-party applications, were initially assigned to Hull, but later — after he had determined that one should be approved for tax exemption and the other should be denied — were reassigned to Hillary Goehausen, who had been with the agency just four months. Ohio congressman Jim Jordan suggested that this process further delayed the processing of tea-party applications.

“The real harassment of tea-party groups wasn’t that they applied and maybe were denied,” Jordan explainedl. “The real harassment was never getting as answer.”