The
temptation for presidents, senators, congressman and other federal agencies
to use the IRS as a political tool to "get" a person or a group
of persons, or snoop into their lives and financial or political dealings,
is hardly a new phenomenon. In a "Time - Swampland",
May 14, 2013 news article entitled, "IRS Scandal Echoes
A Long History of Political Harassment", the author
wrote this:
"John
F. Kennedy sanctioned an “Ideological Organizations Project”
at the IRS that investigated right-wing groups. President Richard Nixon
encouraged a secret IRS program called the “Special Services Staff”
to investigate his political opponents and harass them with audits. And
presidents weren’t the only offenders; the FBI has long used the
IRS to harass political opponents. A 1964 FBI plan to “discredit”
the United Klans of America called for illegally disclosing tax information
about key members. Around the same time, the FBI initiated an IRS audit
of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his non-profit organization, the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference. One memo even suggested the bureau forge
letters from King to donors of the group that warned of the ongoing IRS
investigations, in the hopes of cutting off the group’s cash flow."
[Link]
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