WASHINGTON, D.C. -

The alleged targeting of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service pushed a member of Congress who also is a franchised dealer in Pennsylvania to question how some stores were closed after the government bailout of automakers more than four years ago.

Rep. Mike Kelly, who operates Chevrolet, Cadillac, Kia and Hyundai franchises in Butler, Pa., authored and submitted a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew inquiring about possible political motivation involved in the nationwide post-bailout closures of dealerships in 2008 and 2009.

The letter also was co-signed by Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) and Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va).

“The IRS’s now-confirmed targeting of conservative groups is a frightening reminder that no branch or department of the federal government is immune from overstepping legal and ethical boundaries,” Kelly said.

“Oftentimes holding government accountable means having to dig for the truth, which is exactly what this letter is about,” he continued. “The Treasury Department’s Inspector General report from the aftermath of the auto bailouts indicated that ‘little or no documentation of the decision-making process to terminate or retain dealerships’ exists, making it ‘impossible in many cases’ to determine if decisions deviated from ‘supposedly objective criteria.’

“In light of the department’s unthinkable breaches of public trust still being revealed by the IRS scandal, my colleagues and I have a duty to examine whether auto dealers across the country saw their businesses close as a result of similar political profiling,” Kelly went on to say.

Kelly was first elected to Congress in 2010 and is a member of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee.

In the mid 1990s, Kelly took ownership of the dealership first started by his father in early 1950s. Kelly has served as chairman of the Hyundai Eastern Region Dealer Council, vice chairman of the Hyundai National Dealer Council as well as on the boards of the Chevrolet Dealers Advertising Association of Pittsburgh and the Cadillac Consultants of Western Pennsylvania.

Kelly’s complete letter to the Treasury Department can be downloaded here.

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