Matt Taibbi, Jim Jordan & Kim Strassel vs. the IRS

Back on Christmas Eve Day, 2022, the IRS opened its "examination" of Matt Taibbi's life. It's odd enough that they'd start this probe into Taibbi's life on a federal holidayJordan . It's Twilight Zone- type of weird that they started this investigation on a Saturday, too.

Kim Strassel wrote this Potomac Watch article to provide watchdogs a little extra context. In her article, Ms. Strassel wrote "This week brought two more examples of IRS roguery that build on its already unsavory record of leaks, incompetence and partisan behavior. The first is the alarming story of journalist Matt Taibbi, who may have been targeted by the IRS in retribution for documenting the joint censorship efforts of Big Tech and the federal government."

To the IRS, Taibbi isn't a liberal or conservative. He's just someone who's able to expose the IRS as utterly corrupt. Anyone that gets in the way of the Swamp, aka the Deep State, will get investigated, then punished. Let's dig right in:

Mr. Taibbi in March told the House Judiciary Committee a disturbing tale: an IRS agent had made a surprise visit to his New Jersey residence on March 9—the same day Mr. Taibbi testified before another House committee about censorship at Twitter. The journalist was subsequently told there were “identity theft” concerns with his 2021 and 2018 tax returns. The 2018 claim particularly troubled Mr. Taibbi, since his accountants possessed documentation showing the return had been electronically accepted, and neither they nor he had ever received notification of a problem. Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan demanded the IRS explain.

The IRS earlier this month provided Mr. Jordan documents that only add to the appearance of targeting. It seems the IRS officially opened its examination of Mr. Taibbi’s return on Dec. 24—not only Christmas Eve but a Saturday. What could be urgent enough to inspire a government employee to work overtime? That was the day Mr. Taibbi capped three weeks of reporting with his ninth installment of the Twitter files, an exposé of a wide sweep of federal agencies working with social-media companies to censor online speech.

Obviously, it's questionable for the IRS (or any government agency other than the FBI) to open an investigation into a private citizen on a weekend or a holiday. I'd think that it'd have to be something super-alarming to get a government agency's attention on a holiday on a weekend. I could understand this if Mr. Taibbi was a known felon with the ability to escape in the near future. That would be motivation to expedite legal proceedings. The thought that Mr. Taibbi might owe a penny or 2 extra in taxes doesn't sound like motivation for opening an investigation on a holiday weekend. There's more:

Documents also show that in addition to the unannounced house call, an IRS agent dived deep into Mr. Taibbi’s personal life, compiling a file of his voter-registration records, whether he had a concealed-weapon permit and even whether he possessed hunting or fishing licenses, among other data. The file contained his Wikipedia page detailing his Twitter files work. The IRS launched this excavation even though Mr. Taibbi didn’t owe the IRS any money.

This sounds like a fishing expedition, not a legitimate investigation. It sounds like intimidation, too.

Which Brings Us To Mr. Jordan

Mr. Jordan chairs the House Judiciary Committee and the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government. If the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government isn't the right committee of jurisdiction for Mr. Taibbi, what committee would conduct oversight on such activities? Rest assured that Mr. Jordan is interested in these types of shenanigans:

Whether Mr. Taibbi is a target of harassment or not, these IRS tactics ought to alarm lawmakers. How many other Americans—those who don’t even owe the feds money—have an IRS file detailing their gun-permit status? How does that relate to tax liability? Federal tax forms require preparers to list their names and phone numbers. Is it IRS practice to jump to an investigation before picking up the phone? Is it now standard for an agent to show up unannounced at your door—in absence of any proof of lawbreaking?

This is an interesting interview:

This is precisely the type of investigation that Chairman Jordan would love to sink his teeth into. The IRS needs to be told what they can and can't do to consumers. Chairman Jordan is a perfect fit for that job.