As chairman of the Senate committee that oversees the IRS, Grassley wrote in a letter to Wenzel that he was not rendering judgment or seeking to intervene in an ongoing case. Grassley pointed out that even former IRS commissioner Donald Alexander has stated that the revenuers are being heavy-handed concerning Judicial Watch. "If credible allegations of IRS mistreatment of taxpayers or nonprofit groups come to my attention," the Iowa Republican notes, "I'm obligated to investigate those allegations."

All the more so, the watchers observes, when the target of the alleged mistreatment is someone such as Klayman. Once the bane of the Clinton White House for his single-minded advocacy of good government, Klayman frequently has clashed with the Bush White House as well to support whistle-blowers, free-speech rights and transparent government. In doing so, he has, like Grassley himself, won wide respect on both sides of the aisle.

Martin Edwin Andersen is a reporter for Insight. Readers can reach him with tips on governmental waste, fraud and abuse of power at InsightWatchers@AOL.com.