President Obama late Tuesday called the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS “intolerable and inexcusable,” saying those who unfairly scrutinized the tax-exempt status of Republican-leaning organizations would be held “accountable.”

The remarks represented the president’s strongest rebuke of the Internal Revenue Service since news broke last Friday that the agency had targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. An inspector general’s report released Tuesday found that IRS employees had used “inappropriate criteria” in focusing on conservatives.