MSNBC -The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the administration is “preparing sweeping changes at the IRS that would allow the agency to pursue criminal inquiries of left-leaning groups more easily, according to people familiar with the matter.” These changes, the Journal reports, “are being driven by Gary Shapley, an adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent,” and include revising the agency’s procedure handbook to diminish the role of lawyers from the IRS’ chief counsel’s office...
Federal criminal law (Internal Revenue Code Section 7217) bars the president, the vice president and other Cabinet officials (except the attorney general) from “directly or indirectly” requesting an audit or investigation by the IRS. While the Supreme Court recently granted the president presumptive immunity from prosecution for official actions, it is doubtful that this immunity would extend to the flagrant violation of a law that specifically applies to the president.
Perhaps more importantly, the president’s immunity does not extend to those aiding him. Section 7217 also requires IRS employees to report improper requests to the Treasury Department’s Inspector General, or risk hefty fines or up to 5 years in prison. Shapley may be willing to flout this law, but will other civil servants at the IRS assume that much personal risk? Will they enable baseless investigations of President Trump’s political opponents, particularly when the 5-year statute of limitations lasts far beyond his second term?
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