The Tiny Scandals and Trials

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NEAL OPENING STATEMENT ON COMMITTEE INVESTIGATION OF THE IRS'S MANDATORY AUDIT PROGRAM UNDER THE PRIOR ADMINISTRATION
Dec 20, 2022 Press Release
Thank you all for being here.

Ways and Means is entrusted with great responsibilities. Today the weight of our job is heavy.

Congress serves as a check on the Executive Branch, and our Committee is entrusted with oversight of our revenue system.

We all come to Ways and Means with the goal of creating a fairer tax code. Because at the root of it all, it is our federal tax system that funds the democracy we all cherish.

Our voluntary collection relies on the public confidence that our tax laws are applied evenly and justly, regardless of position or power.

For four years, the Committee has been reviewing how the IRS enforces the federal tax laws against, and ensures compliance by, a president.

A president is no ordinary taxpayer. They hold power and influence, unlike any other American. And with great power comes even greater responsibility.

Our Constitution insists that no American officeholder is above the law.

When concern arose over President Nixon’s returns and whether they were properly examined, the Internal Revenue Service established a procedure of mandatory audits for presidents and vice presidents. The policy is simple and states: “individual income tax returns for the President and Vice-President are subject to a mandatory examination.”

Other than that, very little is known about this program.

We are only here today because four years ago, our request to learn more about the program under 6103 was denied. This was the first time that this key oversight function was hampered, and our Committee’s jurisdiction was challenged.

On behalf of the American people, and to preserve the Congress’s oversight abilities, we escalated the matter in court.

After a prolonged battle in federal court, our legislative and oversight authority was affirmed.

Today, we are considering reports that review the program.

I want to be clear that these materials have been reviewed by both sides. When Mr. Brady requested access, I granted it, and his team had ample time for review.

The Committee expected that these mandatory audits were being conducted promptly and in accordance with IRS policies.

However, our review found that under the prior Administration the program was dormant. We know now, the first mandatory audit was opened two years into his presidency. On the day this Committee requested his returns.

We anticipated the IRS would expand the mandatory audit program to account for the complex nature of the former president’s financial situation yet found no evidence of that.

This is a major failure of the IRS under the prior administration, and certainly not what we had hoped to find.

But the evidence is clear. Congress must step in.

I’ve proposed legislation to put the program above reproach. Ensuring IRS conducts yearly, timely examinations while publicly disclosing certain information.

With this statutory requirement, IRS can work toward restoring its integrity and the public’s confidence in the Federal tax system.

Our work has always been to ensure our tax laws are administered fairly and without preference, because at times, even the power of a president looms too large.

After Nixon, the IRS put its own guardrails in place.

Today’s facts are damning, and this isn’t the type of abuse I want for our tax code.

I’m prepared to go one step further because it’s my duty. And because that’s what it means to serve on the Ways and Means Committee. I hope you join me in what’s right for the American people.

###


https://waysandmeans.house.gov/media-ce ... tory-audit

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Tristan Snell
@tristansnell@mstdn.social
BREAKING: Trump LOSES motion to dismiss E. Jean Carroll's newest defamation lawsuit. Court rejects Trump's argument that NY's new Adult Survivors Act denied him due process.

This is Carroll's 2nd case, based on Trump's doubling-down of his defamatory statements last October.

Jennifer Taub @jentaub@mstdn.social
Here. It. Is. The unsealed deposition of Donald J. Trump in the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit(s)

https://storage.courtlistener.com/reca


https://mstdn.social/@jentaub/109684200343330009

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[Owendonovan]

I love that the judge specifically called Tiny out on what would likely be Tiny's excuse.

Judge Orders Trump and Lawyer to Pay Nearly $1 Million for Bogus Suit
In a scathing ruling, the judge said the suit against Hillary Clinton and dozens of the former president’s perceived political enemies was “brought in bad faith for an improper purpose.”
In a scathing ruling, a federal judge in Florida on Thursday ordered Donald J. Trump and one of his lawyers together to pay nearly a million dollars in sanctions for filing a frivolous lawsuit against nearly three dozen of Mr. Trump’s perceived political enemies, including Hillary Clinton and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey.

The ruling was a significant rebuke of Mr. Trump, who has rarely faced such consequences in his long history of using the courts as a weapon against business rivals and partners, as well as former employees and reporters.

And it was the latest setback for Mr. Trump as he faces a broad range of legal problems and criminal investigations. His lawyers are increasingly under scrutiny themselves for their actions in those cases, as well as divided in the advice they are offering him.

“This case should never have been brought,” U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks wrote in a 46-page ruling. “Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim.”
“Mr. Trump is a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries,” Judge Middlebrooks wrote. “He is the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process, and he cannot be seen as a litigant blindly following the advice of a lawyer. He knew full well the impact of his actions.”

Judge Middlebrooks said Mr. Trump’s suit had been “brought in bad faith for an improper purpose” and had “needlessly harmed” the 31 individuals and organizations, including the Democratic National Committee, he had sued “in order to dishonestly advance a political narrative.” The judge added that Mr. Trump’s use of the courts had helped to undermine the public’s confidence in them.

“A continuing pattern of misuse of the courts by Mr. Trump and his lawyers undermines the rule of law, portrays judges as partisans and diverts resources from those who have suffered actual legal harm,” he wrote.

The judge said Mr. Trump and the lawyer who filed the case for him, Alina Habba, and her firm, Habba Madaio & Associates, were to pay $937,989.39.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/19/us/p ... -fine.html

[ponchi101]

to the judge. Finally, somebody speaking plainly and clearly.

[patrick]

I love that the judge specifically called Tiny out on what would likely be Tiny's excuse.

Judge Orders Trump and Lawyer to Pay Nearly $1 Million for Bogus Suit
In a scathing ruling, the judge said the suit against Hillary Clinton and dozens of the former president’s perceived political enemies was “brought in bad faith for an improper purpose.”
In a scathing ruling, a federal judge in Florida on Thursday ordered Donald J. Trump and one of his lawyers together to pay nearly a million dollars in sanctions for filing a frivolous lawsuit against nearly three dozen of Mr. Trump’s perceived political enemies, including Hillary Clinton and the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey.

The ruling was a significant rebuke of Mr. Trump, who has rarely faced such consequences in his long history of using the courts as a weapon against business rivals and partners, as well as former employees and reporters.

And it was the latest setback for Mr. Trump as he faces a broad range of legal problems and criminal investigations. His lawyers are increasingly under scrutiny themselves for their actions in those cases, as well as divided in the advice they are offering him.

“This case should never have been brought,” U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks wrote in a 46-page ruling. “Its inadequacy as a legal claim was evident from the start. No reasonable lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim.”
“Mr. Trump is a prolific and sophisticated litigant who is repeatedly using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries,” Judge Middlebrooks wrote. “He is the mastermind of strategic abuse of the judicial process, and he cannot be seen as a litigant blindly following the advice of a lawyer. He knew full well the impact of his actions.”

Judge Middlebrooks said Mr. Trump’s suit had been “brought in bad faith for an improper purpose” and had “needlessly harmed” the 31 individuals and organizations, including the Democratic National Committee, he had sued “in order to dishonestly advance a political narrative.” The judge added that Mr. Trump’s use of the courts had helped to undermine the public’s confidence in them.

“A continuing pattern of misuse of the courts by Mr. Trump and his lawyers undermines the rule of law, portrays judges as partisans and diverts resources from those who have suffered actual legal harm,” he wrote.

The judge said Mr. Trump and the lawyer who filed the case for him, Alina Habba, and her firm, Habba Madaio & Associates, were to pay $937,989.39.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/19/us/p ... -fine.html

Here comes the appeal and more delay tactics.

[skatingfan]

Here comes the appeal and more delay tactics.

Also, this is where the campaign contributions are going.

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Video at the link in the tweet.

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