Proving once again that even paranoids can have enemies, the Internal Revenue Service of the United States was caught, and has already apologized for, singling out right-wing groups for extra scrutiny of their tax-exempt status during the 2012 election.

Lois Lerner, the head of the IRS section that overseas tax-exempt organizations, admitted that groups using the words “tea party” or “patriot” on their applications for tax-exempt status were flagged for extra careful checking. In a few instances the groups were asked for their list of financial supporters which is an actual violation of IRS policy most of the time.

“That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive and it was inappropriate. That’s not how we go about selecting cases for further review,” Lerner said at a conference sponsored by the American Bar Association. “The IRS would like to apologize for that,” she added.