From the start of the IRS scandal about auditing conservative groups, I've suggested (here, here, here, and here) that following the actions of the IRS lawyers was an Ariadne's thread to understanding what happened. Paul Caron has a post discussing some actions of IRS counsel just before important decisions were made -- including a meeting at the White House. Of course, I can't say what happened in the meeting, but I sure would like to see the attorney client privilege waived as to all conversations involving IRS counsel. (Btw, I still see no evidence that the audits involved anyone outside the IRS. What bothers me most is the deception to Congress in its oversight role. If IRS counsel knew of the deceptive testimony to Congress, shouldn't counsel have done something about it?)
As far as I can tell, the lawyers inside the IRS treated the issue as sensitive and problematic but did not treat it under the 1.13 framework of reporting up violations of law. In other words, the contemporaneous actions of the IRS lawyers reflect a different (i.e., less serious) treatment of the issue than the treatment that ensued once the matter was made public. That discrepancy is worth exploring.
Please see the comments for some insight on the privilege issue.