Senate Republicans to Biden DOJ: “Do Your Jobs” on IRS Leaks
‘Find those responsible for these disclosures and ensure they are punished as directed by law. Unless you do, ordinary Americans will fall victim to these politicized and criminal disclosures, and trust in the IRS and our tax system will continue to erode.’
WASHINGTON D.C. — U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Finance Committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray demanding a prompt investigation and prosecution of the latest IRS leak of confidential taxpayer information. The following are excerpts from the letter:
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“Paying one’s taxes is a civic duty, and that duty requires taxpayers to disclose to the IRS deeply personal financial information… But those compelled disclosures should not, and do not, make that financial information public.
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“Th[e] rule of confidentiality is about more than just protecting individual privacy, although that is an important objective. The rule is a vital check against the use of the incredible power of federal taxation for nefarious political purposes.”
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“Although we are alarmed by this disclosure, we are far more alarmed by what it portends for everyday Americans… Ordinary Americans who turn over their personal information to the IRS because they will go to jail if they don’t have every reason to fear that they may too become a victim to the political machinations of activists inside and outside of the IRS.”
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“It has become clear that bad actors are more than happy to weaponize Americans’ tax information for political purposes. It is further clear that this wanton and criminal abuse of the tax system disproportionately—indeed, exclusively—advances the objectives of the political left in this country.”
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“Ultimately, the only way to prevent these dangerous disclosures is to ensure that those who unlawfully disclose tax information go to jail. That’s why Congress imposed serious criminal penalties on illegal disclosures like those published by ProPublica.”
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Read the Senate Republican letter in full HERE.
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