Alliance for IRS Accountability: IRS Watchdog Files FOIA to Probe Targeting of Conservative Taxpayers, Businesses

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Alliance for IRS Accountability (AIA) has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking records that could confirm what millions of Americans already suspect: even after the Obama-era Tea Party scandal, IRS leadership continued to abuse its broad powers to target conservatives, Republicans, and supporters of President Trump.

"The IRS has a troubling history of political bias that continues to permeate the agency. It’s unacceptable that Holly Paz is now the commissioner of their Large Business and International division." -Chuck Flint

Share

The FOIA request demands communications from current IRS leaders, including Large Business and International (LB&I) Division Commissioner Holly Paz, a central figure in the Tea Party targeting scandal, and Senior Counsel on pass-through entities, Cliff Warren. AIA’s FOIA submission specifically seeks materials referencing communications of Holly Paz and Cliff Warren regarding the IRS’s “establishment and activities of the pass-through compliance unit” from January 20, 2021, to the present.

This request follows concerning reports that the IRS pass-through audit team—quietly created during President Biden’s tenure—is operating under Holly Paz’s supervision. The pass-through audit unit scrutinizes entities often associated with Republican-leaning businesses and partnerships, but it has no basis in federal law.

Holly Paz’s name is no stranger to politicized IRS abuse. As the former deputy to Lois Lerner, she played a key role in the IRS’s disgraceful targeting of conservative individuals and organizations, was accused of misleading Congress, and fought to have testimony she gave as part of a lawsuit by conservative organizations permanently sealed. Yet, over a decade later, Holly Paz still holds a senior position at the agency, with the power to audit American taxpayers her former boss once referred to as “crazies.”

“The IRS has a troubling history of political bias that continues to permeate the agency. It’s unacceptable that Holly Paz, a key official in the Obama-era targeting of conservative groups, is now the commissioner of their Large Business and International (LB&I) division,” said AIA’s Executive Director, Chuck Flint. “The LB&I division oversees the IRS’s new pass-through audit team that is scrutinizing businesses and partnerships of every size and form. Unfortunately, comments made by IRS officials have raised concerns that the new pass-through unit will be used as a vehicle to execute a political agenda against supporters of President Trump. It should, therefore, be disbanded. We look forward to the IRS’s response.”

AIA is committed to ending the IRS’s culture of bureaucratic overreach, heavy-handed enforcement and political targeting. From the leak of President Trump’s tax returns to the unannounced visit to journalist Matt Taibbi’s home, the agency’s track record reveals a clear pattern of intimidation—not impartial enforcement. This FOIA request represents the first step in AIA’s mission of restoring IRS accountability and ensuring fair treatment of all taxpayers.

BACKGROUND
The Alliance for IRS Accountability (AIA) is dedicated to protecting taxpayers and small businesses. The IRS is broken and operates with unchecked power. This has led to abusive enforcement practices and regulatory overreach that has unfairly targeted hard-working American taxpayers and business owners. AIA is building a broad alliance that will create a fair, transparent, and law-abiding agency that is accountable to individual Americans and businesses.