WASHINGTON — The Ohio Liberty Coalition and 16 other tea party groups could file a civil suit against the Internal Revenue Service as soon as next week, according to an attorney representing 27 tea party organizations from around the nation.

Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice, is representing the organizations on a pro bono basis. He said it’s unclear if the organizations will file as a class action or individually in the 17 different states they encompass.

Sekulow said the case is made more unusual by the fact that the IRS essentially admitted to targeting the groups when it apologized for its actions on Friday. He said damages could include the cost of complying with IRS demands and the loss of donors reluctant to give to an organization without tax-exempt status.

But Sekulow, speaking at a press conference organized by Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., this morning, said the IRS may face more than civil litigation as a result of the decision to give extra scrutiny to Tea Party groups. The threat of criminal charges, he said, “is real and serious.”

He spoke at a press conference that featured Bachmann, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Tea Party leaders including Tom Zawistowski, the executive director of the Portage County Tea Party. Zawistowski, then president of the Ohio Liberty Council, complained to Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio and Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, in 2012, after he was sent a list of questions in response to the group’s request to become a 501 (c) 4 organization. Zawistowski said that the questions were “intrusive” and “overly burdensome.”

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