Bloomberg: “The Internal Revenue Service used terms such as ‘progressive’ and evidence of advocacy on Israel to flag groups’ tax-exempt applications for extra attention, complicating what had been seen as targeted scrutiny for small-government groups.”

First Read: “The IRS controversy/scandal looks much more like an agency
controversy/scandal (where wrongdoing was committed by bureaucrats) than
a full-blown political controversy/scandal (where it goes all the way
to the top). And in retrospect, that also applies to those Benghazi
talking points.”

“In the spring of 2011, Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell flew to New York and was treated to a high-end shopping spree courtesy of Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams Sr,” the Richmond Times Dispatch reports.

“During the trip, McDonnell spent time at the Manhattan showroom of famed designer Oscar de la Renta, where she tried on a suede jacket that cost at least $10,000. Williams put the garment on his tab. Williams also bought the first lady two pairs of designer shoes, a Louis Vuitton leather handbag and a designer dress.”

Acting Internal Revenue Service chief Danny Werfel says “inappropriate screening of groups seeking tax-exempt status was broader and lasted longer than was previously disclosed,” the AP reports.

Werfel said he “discovered inappropriate and wide-ranging criteria in lists screeners use to single out groups for careful examinations. He did not specify what terms were on the lists.”

The Wall Street Journal reports he said “it appears so far that no IRS employee committed intentional wrongdoing, and there’s no evidence that anyone outside the IRS steered its actions. That counters some GOP lawmakers’ charges that the operation was directed by the White House.”

Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi convicted in sex-for-hire trial and sentenced to 7 years and barred from office, the AP reports.