Leaders of two conservative political groups in Georgia say they say faced invasive questioning from the Internal Revenue Service.

Nationwide, an investigation into the IRS' targeting of conservative political groups nationwide is widening.

The Justice Department is opening a criminal investigation of the Internal Revenue Service just as another probe concludes that lax management enabled agents to improperly target tea party groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax exempt status.

In Georgia, leaders from the Woodstock-based Tea Party Patriots and the Cobb County-based Georgia Tea Party tell The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that IRS officials questioned them about their members, funding and political ties.

The groups were newly formed and applying for the 501(c)4 designation from the IRS as a tax-exempt "social welfare group."

Tags: Justice Department, IRS, Georgia Tea Party, Internal Revenue Service, Tea Party Patriots