Department of Justice: No criminal prosecution in IRS Tea Party case

The U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday that it had found no evidence to support a criminal prosecution over the mishandling by the Internal Revenue Service several years ago of non-profit political groups aligned with the Tea Party.

"The IRS mishandled the processing of tax-exempt applications in a manner that disproportionately impacted applicants affiliated with the Tea Party and similar groups ... However, ineffective management is not a crime," Assistant Attorney General Pater Kadzik said in a letter to lawmaker.

(Reporting by Joel Schectman; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Sandra Maler)