Congress Probing Whether IRS Plyng AI to Invade Americans’ Financial Privacy

Jim Jordan and Harriet Hageman

The House Judiciary Committee has opened an inquiry to whether the IRS is using artificial intelligence to invade Americans’ financial privacy after an agency employee was captured in an undercover tape suggesting there was a widespread surveillance operation underway that might not be constitutional.

Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., sent a letter last week to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding documents, and answers as to how the agency is currently employing artificial intelligence to comb through bank records to look for possible tax cheats. 

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IRS Blistered by Internal Watchdog for Lax Protections of Taxpayer Data After Criminal Leak

The IRS failed to revoke access to sensitive tax systems from contractors who failed background checks and doesn’t have protections for some of those systems to prevent unauthorized removal of taxpayer data, the agency’s chief watchdog warns in a stinging rebuke that comes on the heels of a devastating criminal leak of tax records.

“The fact remains that for some sensitive systems, the IRS does not have adequate controls to detect or prevent the unauthorized removal of data by users,” the Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) concluded in a report this month.

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Southern Poverty Law Center Added Immigration Group to ‘Hate Map’ After It Reported SPLC ‘Charity’s’ Attacks on Trump to IRS

by Tyler O’Neil   A recent interview with the leader of an immigration reform organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has branded a “hate group” potentially shines new light on how the SPLC allegedly uses its “hate” accusations as a tactical political weapon. Throughout the 2016 presidential election, the Southern Poverty Law Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity, condemned candidate Donald Trump for his supposed ties to “far-right extremists.” The following year, an immigration group helped report this to the IRS, claiming the SPLC had violated its tax-exempt status by engaging in political activity against Trump, and the SPLC appears to have responded by adding that group to its “hate map” in what the immigration group calls an act of retaliation. “It was direct retaliation,” Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, and chairman of the board of directors of its affiliated legal organization, the Immigration Reform Law Institute, told The Daily Signal in an interview this week. In November 2016, the Immigration Reform Law Institute announced that it would represent FAIR in an official complaint to the IRS that claimed the SPLC had violated its tax-exempt status. FAIR, founded in 1979 by self-declared liberals, conservatives, and moderates as…

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ATF Preparing to Regulate Private Gun Sales with Background Check, Whistleblower Group Alleges

ATF Agent

The whistleblower group that represented the IRS agents in the Hunter Biden case is warning that the Biden administration is preparing an “unconstitutional“ power grab to regulate private gun sales by requiring a background check.

In a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Empower Oversight said it had learned from two sources that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was directed by the White House to make the change and “has drafted a 1,300-page document in support of a rule that would effectively ban private sales of firearms from one citizen to another by requiring background checks for every sale.”

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Former IRS Contractor Charles Littlejohn Sentenced to 5 Years for Releasing Trump Tax Records

Former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn was sentenced to five years in prison on Monday after leaking former President Donald Trump’s tax records, according to NBC News.

Littlejohn, 38, was charged in September 2023 with one count of disclosing information from a tax return for a government official, and he pleaded guilty in October to leaking 10 years of Trump’s tax records to The New York Times. U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes sentenced Littlejohn to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, according to NBC News.

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In Federal Indictment, Joe Biden’s Role in Son’s Alleged Schemes Is Left Unsaid

The sweeping tax evasion indictment brought by federal prosecutors against Hunter Biden in California vindicates the testimony of two IRS whistleblowers while leaving one tantalizing question unanswered: how did the first’s son transfers of funds and profligate spending intersect with Joe Biden, if at all?

IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler say they weren’t allowed to pursue evidence that might answer that question. But lawmakers pursuing an impeachment inquiry in Congress might just get the chance.

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Commentary: The Biden Family Grift and Hunter’s Fake Offer to Testify

Hunter Biden’s offer to testify before the House Oversight Committee is a clever evasion, nothing more. The president’s son says he will testify only if the hearing is publicly televised. Nice try. Subpoenaed witnesses don’t get to set the terms. The committee does.

Why make an offer that is bound to be rejected? For two reasons. The PR goal is for Hunter to appear willing to testify, when he actually wants desperately to avoid it. The legal goal is to prevent, or at least delay, the committee from enforcing its subpoena. Hunter and his hardball attorney, Abbe Lowell, probably figure the Biden administration’s Department of Justice won’t go to court and demand compliance. That’s not a bad bet. If the DOJ does refuse, the House will go to court itself, but that will take time and may not succeed.

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As Joe Biden Promised Tax Fairness, His Son Rushed to Erase His Delinquent Taxes, IRS Memos Show

As Joe Biden marched toward the presidency in 2020 with a promise to force the wealthy to pay their “fair share” of taxes, his son Hunter was scrambling behind closed doors to clean up a trail of his own delinquent taxes before they became an election scandal, according to once-secret IRS memos made public recently by Congress.

IRS agents would soon discover that the future first son was continuing to allegedly misrepresent his income and deductions to the very accountant he had hired to help, the memos show.

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Biden IRS Launches Audit Into Conservative Org That Helped Tank Nominees for Key Administration Posts

The IRS is investigating the tax-exempt status of the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) following its reporting on President Joe Biden’s nominees, several of whom withdrew their nominations, according to a letter obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The IRS is requesting AAF submit internal financial data as well as communications, including meeting notes, publications and newsletters, according to the letter from the IRS to AAF obtained by the DCNF. The conservative nonprofit organization, which the IRS approved for tax-exempt status in August 2021, alleges the investigation is in retaliation for the AAF reporting on several recent Biden nominees who later withdrew their nominations.

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Commentary: The Internal Revenue Service’s AI Announcement Is Really About Taxpayer Intimidation

The IRS commissioner announced last month that the agency will now deploy artificial intelligence in pursuit of “wealthy tax cheats” who are using partnership structures to pay “little to no tax.” But the announcement’s logic doesn’t pass the smell test — the real intent seems to be to intimidate successful small businesspeople away from using legal tax minimization strategies.

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Feds Thwarted Probe into Possible ‘Criminal Violations’ Involving 2020 Biden Campaign, Agents Say

The FBI and IRS probed allegations that Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign may have benefitted from “campaign finance criminal violations” by allowing a politically connected lawyer to help pay off Hunter Biden’s large tax debts but agents were blocked by federal prosecutors from further action, according to new information uncovered by congressional investigators.

The previously unreported campaign finance inquiry was first alluded to in transcribed interviews by House investigators with two IRS agents and a retired FBI supervisor, and the allegations since have been augmented in recent weeks by new evidence uncovered by the House Ways and Means Committee, the House Judiciary Committee and the House Oversight Committee.

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IRS Set to Use AI to Target Tax Cheats, Say They Will Limit to ‘High Income Earners’ and ‘Large Corporations’

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced new enforcement initiatives Friday to crack down on 1,600 millionaires and 75 large companies it said owe hundreds of millions in unpaid taxes.  

IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said the agency will use Inflation Reduction Act funding to focus on high-income earners, partnerships, large corporations and promoters. He said the IRS won’t increase audit rates for those earning less than $400,000 a year.

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Early Warning: Feds Alerted to Whistleblower Concern over Hunter Biden Business Deals in 2015

Banking whistleblowers first began raising alarms about Hunter Biden’s business deals as long ago as Spring 2015 while his father was still serving as vice president, flagging what they feared were “suspicious” transactions and “fraudulent” schemes. One of the bankers became so concerned he eventually escalated his concerns to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) only a few days before Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, according to documents provided to Congress and obtained by Just the News.

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Lawmakers: IRS Dodging Oversight After Destroying 30 Million Records

Lawmakers investigating reports that the IRS destroyed tens of millions of taxpayer records say the federal tax agency is not cooperating with the investigation.

Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman David Schweikert, R-Ariz., sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel demanding he comply with the documentation request.

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Effective Immediately: IRS Ends Unannounced Visits to Taxpayers

The IRS on Monday said it is ending its decades-long practice of agency revenue officers making unannounced visits to taxpayers, citing concerns over agent safety and an increase in scammers. 

Unarmed agency employees would visit homes and businesses to collect unpaid taxes and unfiled tax returns. Except for a few unique circumstances, unannounced visits will immediately end and be replaced with mailed letters for taxpayers to schedule meetings, the IRS said.

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Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley Says IRS Whistleblower Testimony in Hunter Biden Probe Shows ‘Two-Track’ System of Justice

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley says Wednesday’s testimony from two Internal Revenue Service whistleblowers alleging political interference in the Hunter Biden criminal probe underscores the “two-track” system of justice in America.

Meanwhile, the Iowa senator is leading a group of Republican senators demanding the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation protect whistleblowers who disclosed records alleging a criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Joe Biden and a foreign national.

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Wisconsin U.S. Senator Ron Johnson on Hunter Biden Plea Deals: ‘This Stinks to High Heaven’

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) joined a chorus of Republicans blasting plea deals that would keep the president’s ne’er-do-well son out of prison.  

“Well first of all, this stinks to high heaven. It certainly proves we do not have equal application of justice under the law,” Johnson said this week on Fox News’ Jesse Waters Prime Time. 

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Congress Prepares to Unseal Testimony, Evidence from IRS Whistleblower in Hunter Biden Case

The House Ways and Means Committee took final steps Tuesday to release to the public as early as this week the testimony and evidence from an IRS whistleblower who alleges the Justice Department gave favorable treatment to Hunter Biden and engaged in political interference in the criminal tax case against the first son.

Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., scheduled an executive session for 8 a.m. Thursday where lawmakers are expected to vote to free the whistleblower evidence and testimony of IRS supervisory criminal agent Gary Shapley from the 6103 privacy requirements that normally shield Americans’ tax information from public disclosure.

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IRS Agent Claimed He Can ‘Go Into Anyone’s House At Any Time,’ Ohio U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan Says

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Friday demanding to know why an agent had told a woman that he could “go into anyone’s house at any time I want.”

Jordan revealed in the letter that a he’d recently learned of allegations about an IRS agent who had allegedly used a fake name to enter a taxpayer’s home and then threatened her. The letter explained that an agent going by “Bill Haus” showed up at an Ohio woman’s home in April, telling her that he can “go into anyone’s house at any time.”

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Newt Gingrich Commentary: Where Are Woodward and Bernstein When America Needs Them?

The conspiracy between a corrupt set of bureaucracies (including the Justice Department, the IRS, and the intelligence community) and an equally corrupt and enabling elite media is astonishing. The Durham Report is just one more confirmation of the devastating level of dishonesty and manipulation which have characterized the last few years.

Some analysts believe the open corruption can be traced back to Lois Lerner and the IRS scandal, in which she clearly stonewalled conservative organizations from getting tax status. When she was found to be in contempt of Congress, the Obama Justice Department spent two years ignoring the congressional contempt charge and then decided not to prosecute her.

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IRS Whistleblower Provides Congress Origins of Biden Probe, Evidence of Political Interference

A decorated IRS agent provided Congress six hours of testimony and seven critical documents Friday that gave lawmakers insights into the origins of the Hunter Biden criminal tax probe and evidence of political interference inside the Justice Department dating to the 2020 election.

Gary Shapley, an IRS supervisory criminal investigator granted whistleblower status, testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, fielding questions from staff from Democrat and Republican lawmakers, his legal team announced.

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Commentary: Tax Armageddon Day Is Coming

Benjamin Franklin famously wrote in 1789 that “our new Constitution is now established and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Death and taxes are fated. However, are enormous tax hikes also a fait accompli? Is it a certainty – ‘an accomplished fact’ – that the White House and Congress will repeal tax reforms that worked? Tax breaks that helped small business owners and families.

For the past several days Americans have been scrambling to make the deadline to complete their 2022 tax returns. Most taxpayers will be relieved once the ordeal is done. However, here’s an unfortunate reality: if Washington fails to act, the federal tax code is headed for major changes in just a couple of years, including massive tax hikes on families and small businesses.

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Senior IRS Agent Blows Whistle, Alleging Biden DOJ Thwarting Criminal Prosecution of Hunter Biden

Adecorated supervisory IRS agent has reported to the Justice Department’s top watchdog that federal prosecutors appointed by Joe Biden have engaged in “preferential treatment and politics” to block criminal tax charges against presidential son Hunter Biden, providing evidence as a whistleblower that conflicts with Attorney General Merrick Garland’s recent testimony to Congress that the decision to bring charges against Biden was being left to the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for Delaware.

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IRS to Hire 30,000 More Employees over the Next Two Years

In a statement on Thursday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) declared that it will hire almost 30,000 new employees over the next two years, as part of an $80 billion investment plan.

As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, the moves are part of the agency’s broader Strategic Operating Plan, aimed at increasing its workforce and implementing new technologies for the alleged purpose of increased efficiency, stricter tax enforcement, and improved customer service.

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Atheists Sic IRS on Wisconsin Priest for Warning His Flock Not to Vote for Pro-Abortion Supreme Court Candidate

Pastor Brian Dulli sent a clear message to the congregants of his suburban Madison St. Patrick’s Catholic Church: Voting for a Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate who stands for the killing of the unborn is perilous to your faith and soul. 

Now, a leftwing group is threatening to get President Joe Biden’s IRS involved and go after the Diocese of Madison for “electioneering.” 

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Commentary: Abolish the IRS

Outside of IRS building

The American public has long held an unfavorable view of the Internal Revenue Service, as evidenced by several historical surveys. A Gallup poll taken more than 25 years ago in October 1997 found that 69 percent of the American public held the opinion that the IRS “frequently abuse[d] its powers.” Fast forward to October 2022, when another Gallup poll was taken on the American public’s job-performance rating of 11 federal agencies. The poll ranked the IRS dead last, with only 34 percent of Americans regarding the job performance of the IRS as “excellent/good.”

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IRS Leaked Thousands of Americans’ Tax Filings; Congress Demands Answers

The new head of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee blasted the Biden administration for giving few answers after thousands of taxpayer files were leaked to an outside group.

House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., sent a letter to Russel George, the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration, raising concerns about the leak of “confidential tax information” and the lack of accountability over that leak.

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IRS Enlists Soros-Funded Liberal Nonprofit to Study the Feasibility of ‘Direct File’ Tax Return Systems

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is partnering with a George Soros-funded nonprofit to study and establish a “direct file” tax return system, according to FedScoop.

The nonprofit, New America, alongside Loyola Law School Associate Professor of Law Ariel Jurow-Kleiman, will create a feasibility study authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which requires that the IRS work with independent third parties to establish free, online direct tax-filing, according to FedScoop. New America draws funding from a litany of left-learning philanthropic organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Melinda Gates’ Pivotal Ventures LLC and the Soros-backed Open Society Foundations, according to New America’s funding disclosure.

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Tennessee Senator Blackburn Readies for Debt-Ceiling Fight

Having received an appointment to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee this week, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is poised to play a major role in this year’s fight over raising the debt ceiling. 

Earlier this week, Blackburn joined her Utah Republican colleague Mike Lee in penning a letter, signed by 22 of their fellow senators, insisting a rise in the federal debt limit must only happen as part of a deal to pare back government spending. In an interview with The Tennessee Star, Blackburn explained her view that fiscal circumstances demand such an agreement so debt does not snowball into an even more unmanageable burden on American families. 

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Commentary: New IRS Requirement Raises Questions About Vow to Expand Audits Only on ‘Rich’

Next month, the U.S. Postal Service will be busier than usual. Not because of late Christmas cards or thank-you letters, but because of the extra Form 1099-Ks the IRS will be mailing out.

Under the American Rescue Plan, third-party payment facilitators like Venmo, eBay, Etsy, and Airbnb are now required to send Form 1099-Ks to individuals reporting 2022 gross annual income of as little as $600. That’s $50 a month.

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Commentary: The U.S. Senate’s ‘Spendthrift Seven’ Are the IRS’ Best Friends

August 7 was a big day for the Spendthrift Seven. In just 12 hours, these Senate Democrats — all facing re-election Tuesday — gave the middle finger to middle-class taxpayers, hugged illegal aliens, and high-fived the IRS.

Arizona’s Mark Kelly, Colorado’s Michael Bennet, Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal, Georgia’s Raphael Warnock, Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto, New Hampshire’s Maggie Hassan and Washington’s Patty Murray did these things while the Senate considered President Joe Biden’s deceptively titled, 273-page Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Their votes should appall every American.

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