ALG Requests Investigation into Breach of Privacy Protection Laws

May 4th, 2010, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) called on the Inspectors General of both the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Treasury Department to investigate an apparent criminal violation of the Internal Revenue Code by either members of the Florida IRS or U.S. Attorney’s offices.

The case revolves around April 20, 2010 Miami Herald reports claiming, “the IRS is also looking at the tax records of at least three former party credit card holders — former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, ex-state party chairman Jim Greer and ex-party executive director Delmar Johnson — to determine whether they misused their party credit cards for personal expenses, according to a source familiar with the preliminary inquiry.

ALG President Bill Wilson warned, “the danger of the IRS becoming a public relations weapon against private citizens is real, and I thought we learned from the days when Richard Nixon was president that even the appearance of using them for political intimidation purposes would not be tolerated.”

The timing of the newspaper leak is particularly troubling due to its relationship to politics in the state of Florida. Governor Crist decision to drop his Republican primary campaign in favor of an Independent run for the U.S. Senate may have been influenced by this politically motivated leak.

ALG Counsel Nathan Mehrens notes, “Anyone who is a regular follower of law enforcement activity knows that the typical response from law enforcement agencies is to ‘neither confirm nor deny’ when asked about current investigatory activities.”

Mehrens continues, “In the context of tax information and investigations into tax issues federal law prohibits the release of many types of information.”

The Internal Revenue Code states that it is a felony punishable by a $5,000 fine and up to five years in prison to “willfully disclose to any person except as authorized in this title, any return or return information.”

Attachments:

Letter to DOJ Inspector General, Americans for Limited Government, April 27th, 2010.

Letter to IRS Inspector General, Americans for Limited Government, April 27th, 2010.

Interview Availability: Please contact Rebekah Rast at (703) 383-0880 or at rrast@getliberty.org to arrange an interview with ALG President Bill Wilson.

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