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Effort would install Trump ally at agency’s criminal unit who has drawn up list of investigative targets
Summary
- The Trump administration is preparing changes at the IRS that could facilitate criminal inquiries into left-leaning groups and Democratic donors.
Gary Shapley, an adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is compiling a list of potential targets, according to people familiar with the matter.
The effort coincides with a broader administration initiative to investigate financial networks funding organizations accused of fostering political violence.
The undertaking aims to install allies of President Trump at the IRS criminal-investigative division, or IRS-CI, to exert firmer control over the unit and weaken the involvement of IRS lawyers in criminal investigations, officials said. The proposed changes could open the door to politically motivated probes and are being driven by Gary Shapley, an adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Shapley has told people that he is going to replace Guy Ficco, the chief of the investigative unit, who has been at the agency for decades, and that Shapley has been putting together a list of donors and groups he believes IRS investigators should look at. Among those on the list are the billionaire Democratic donor George Soros and his affiliated groups, according to a senior IRS official and another person briefed on the list. It couldn’t be determined upon what grounds Shapley would seek to begin such an investigation.
These excerpts from the Wall Street Journal, sorry there's a paywall. WSJ Link
Just another day and another move toward autocracy (not to mention getting the libs). MAGAs can rejoice!
Didn't Musk already reduce the IRS staff so the rich won't be audited as much? Now those that remain will be tasked with Trump revenge targets?