List of allegations of misuse of the Internal Revenue Service: Difference between revisions
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In May 2013, the IRS admitted that it had targeted certain conservative groups for closer scrutiny in their applications for tax-exempt status based on particular keywords in their names. |
In May 2013, the IRS admitted that it had targeted certain conservative groups for closer scrutiny in their applications for tax-exempt status based on particular keywords in their names. |
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== Historical study of the IRS in the 1990s == |
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In 1991, a Josephson Institute of Ethics survey of IRS executives and managers reported that 70% of IRS managers said there was a "lack of honesty" in their workplace.<ref name="phillyinq">http://articles.philly.com/1991-03-22/news/25793042_1_irs-managers-senior-irs-officials-irs-whistleblowers</ref> Three out of four respondents felt entitled to deceive or lie when testifying before a congressional committee.<ref>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324715704578482823301630836.html</ref> Forty three percent agreed that the agency is often or occasionally unfair in it's handling of complaints.<ref name="phillyinq" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=CQZYAAAAYAAJ&q=IRS#search_anchor |title=Joseph & Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics survey of employee opinions ... - Joseph & Edna Josephson Institute for the Advancement of Ethics - Google Boeken |publisher=Books.google.com |date=2011-04-20 |accessdate=2013-05-15}}</ref> |
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== References == |
== References == |
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Revision as of 08:38, 2 June 2013
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This is a partial list of controversies related to political profiling at the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which traces its roots to the creation of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue in 1862. Examples of alleged political profiling include cases in which IRS employees or government officials have allegedly used IRS resources to target individuals and groups for espousing or expressing particular political beliefs.
1930s
Use of the IRS for political targeting has been alleged as far back as the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration.
- “My father,” Elliott Roosevelt observed of his famous parent, “may have been the originator of the concept of employing the IRS as a weapon of political retribution.”[1]
1940s-1960s
The most famous Kennedy administration project allegedly deploying tax-related targeting was called the "Ideological Organizations Project". This was a project which allegedly investigated, intimidated, and challenged the tax-exempt status of right-wing foundations.[2]
Many instances of alleged political profiling were coordinated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), sometimes under COINTELPRO.[3] The IRS provided the FBI with free access to tax returns, which the FBI used to investigate groups as ideologically varied as the John Birch Society, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the American Communist Party.[4]
Beginning in the 1950s and continuing into the 1960s, the IRS audited civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. numerous times.[5][6] In addition to King himself, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and several of King's lawyers were subjected to audits.
1970s
In 1974, a Bill of Impeachment against President Richard Nixon was approved by the House Judiciary Committee that included charges that his administration used the IRS in a discriminatory manner:
- RESOLVED, That Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanours...
- Using the powers of the office of President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States...
- He has, acting personally and through his subordinates and agents, endeavoured to... cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be intitiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.[7]
1990s
Conservative groups including the Heritage Foundation, the National Rifle Association, and Judicial Watch alleged that the Clinton administration subjected them to politically-motivated audits.[8]
Paula Jones, an Arkansas state employee who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton, reported that her personal income tax returns were selected for audit shortly after she declined an out-of-court settlement of the case.[9] In an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press, Jones's spokeswoman called the audit "harassment."[9] She stated that she "would never be so blunt" as to accuse the White House or Clinton of using the IRS to harass detractors, but nevertheless found the audit "very coincidental."[9]
2000s
The NAACP was audited in 2004 after its chairman criticized then-President George W. Bush for failing to address the group, becoming the first president to do so since Herbert Hoover.[10] The IRS informed the NAACP that the audit was prompted by then-NAACP-chairman Julian Bond's speech, which "condemned the administration policies of George W. Bush on education, the economy and the war in Iraq."[11] Although the IRS maintained that the audit was an attempt to determine whether the NAACP had involved itself in a political campaign, the NAACP and Democratic Party representatives characterized the audit as an attempt to stifle criticism of Bush, intimidate NAACP members, and harm the NAACP's get-out-the-vote campaign.[10][11]
2010s
In May 2013, the IRS admitted that it had targeted certain conservative groups for closer scrutiny in their applications for tax-exempt status based on particular keywords in their names.
References
- ^ New Deal Or Raw Deal?: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America By Burton W. Folsom, Jr. Chapter 11:"The IRS, FDR's personal weapon".
- ^ Andrew, John A., III (2002) Power to Destroy: The Political Uses of the IRS from Kennedy to Nixon
- ^ Scherer, Michael. "IRS Scandal Echoes a Long History of Political Harassment | TIME.com". Swampland.time.com. Retrieved 2013-05-15.
- ^ "History of IRS Abuse: American Communists". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ Burnham, David (1989). "MISUSE OF THE I.R.S.: THE ABUSE OF POWER". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ "History of IRS Abuse: Martin Luther King Jr". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ "Watergate Articles Of Impeachment". Watergate.info. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
- ^ "History of IRS Abuse: Paula Corbin Jones". Real Clear Politics. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ a b c George Lardner Jr. (15 September 1997). "IRS Audit of Paula Jones Is 'Harassment,' Adviser Says". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
- ^ a b Kelly Brewington (29 October 2004). "NAACP blames tax audit on criticism of Bush". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
- ^ a b Kelly Brewington (30 October 2004). "Democrats denounce IRS audit of NAACP". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 30 May 2013.