The vice chairman of the Federal Election Commission told CNN on Monday he has seen numerous undisclosed e-mails between FEC staffers and the Internal Revenue Service that raise new questions about potential improper contact between two federal agencies in the alleged targeting of conservative political groups . Don McGahn , a Republican FEC commissioner , said an investigator from his agency contacted Lois Lerner , the IRS employee at the center of the political storm now engulfing that agency . He said the contact was made to discuss the status of one such conservative political advocacy group , the American Future Fund . Shortly after Lerner was contacted , the IRS sent a questionnaire to the American Future Fund , McGahn added . `` Who 's the dog and who 's the tail ( in this case ) ? Who knows , '' McGahn said . But `` dealing with Lois Lerner is probably out of the ordinary . '' The answers , McGahn stressed , `` could be benign ( or ) could be more sinister . '' Darrell Issa , IRS escalate fight over investigation . McGahn , who did not provide a timeline of events , said FEC commissioners had not given their staffers permission to reach out to the IRS on the matter , which is generally required for such inquiries . The e-mails McGahn described to CNN are exactly what Republican congressional investigators are asking IRS and FEC officials to turn over to Congress as part of its investigation . Ellen L. Weintraub , the Democratic chairwoman of the FEC , said she does not know about the e-mails between the FEC investigator and Lerner to which McGahn is referring . `` If there was any evidence or targeting based on ideology , that would be extremely serious , but I have not seen any evidence of that , '' she said . `` I am not aware of requesting or receiving any confidential taxpayer information . I am not aware of any requests for anything that was n't publicly available . '' Last week , congressional Republicans disclosed several e-mails between Lerner , the former head of the IRS division handling tax exempt organizations , and an unnamed FEC attorney inquiring about the status of the American Future Fund and another conservative outfit , the American Issues Project . The e-mails were first uncovered by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp , R-Michigan , who sent a letter last week to acting IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel requesting additional details regarding exchanges between Lerner and the FEC . Obama to nominate restructuring specialist to head IRS . The e-mails that congressional Republicans released only reference and request publicly available information on the two groups . McGahn told CNN , however , that the additional e-mails he has seen do not clearly state whether the FEC was only seeking public data . Asking for private data would most likely be a violation of federal law . McGahn was not able to specify whether contact was initiated by Lerner or the FEC , which regulates political speech and handles numerous complaints every election cycle about alleged violations of its campaign rules and regulations . Contacted by CNN on Monday , the IRS emphasized that the agency `` takes its obligation to protect confidential taxpayer information very seriously . '' An IRS spokeswoman noted that the agency is prohibited from discussing information contained in specific tax returns . Republicans -- led by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa -- insist that after President Barack Obama 's 2008 election , the IRS started intentionally targeting conservative outfits seeking tax-exempt status . The prospect of potential FEC involvement raises the prospect of a broader federal targeting effort . Democrats argue there is nothing sinister and that the contact is nothing more than requests for information that is already in the public domain . Still , Republicans question why FEC staffers would bother contacting Lerner -- herself a former FEC employee -- for information already publicly available . Lerner made headlines after she invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when called before the House Oversight Committee in May to testify on the controversy . `` Things seemed weird to me '' after examining the undisclosed e-mails , McGahn told CNN . `` The FEC has not had a good track record with calling balls and strikes . They 've been criticized for not playing fair . '' If nothing else , he added , this `` creates the appearance that people are being selectively targeted . And that 's something that should never happen . '' American Future Fund founder Nick Ryan argued in a written statement last week that the publicly released correspondence between the IRS and the FEC `` indicates questionable behavior . '' `` We will cooperate with ( the ) ongoing investigations to root out the bad actors in the politically driven , out-of-control bureaucracy the IRS and the government has become . '' For their part , Democrats have dismissed the latest revelations and insist groups on both the left and the right were improperly scrutinized as part of a clumsy administration of vague election-related tax laws . `` House Republicans are doing everything they can to distract attention from their inability to focus on jobs and the economy , '' said Josh Drobnyk , a spokesman for Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee , which is also investigating the alleged targeting . `` Republicans are throwing mud against the wall with the hope that some will stick . '' To date , Republican-led IRS investigations of tea party targeting have uncovered no evidence any of it was directed by Obama political officials . IRS interviews show no political bias , Democrats say .
Democratic chief of FEC says she does n't know about the e - mails . Top FEC Republican discusses additional e - mail between IRS and FEC . John McGahn : Republican leader improperly contacted David Lerner of IRS about conservative ##s . Republicans ask if FEC revelations indicate a broader targeting of conservatives .