The days when it could be taken for granted that government agencies were impartial, nonpartisan, and dedicated to carrying out their responsibilities in a fair and even-handed manner are long gone. As Stephen Green pointed out Tuesday, on the very same day that journalist Matt Taibbi of Twitter Files fame was testifying before the House’s Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was offering a precise and unmistakable illustration of that weaponization by showing up, unannounced of course, at his home. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on Monday suddenly raided a gun store in Smyrna, Ga., where — lo and behold! — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is set to speak Thursday. Wow, what a coincidence!
Today, the ATF showed up with 16 agents, most from out-of-state from cities like LA and San Francisco, to “inspect” Adventure Outdoors in Smyrna, GA.
This visit was unprecedented. The sheer amount of agents from the bluest parts of the country is unusual and unnecessary to… pic.twitter.com/gz2JnOAe39
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) March 27, 2023
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) tweeted Monday:
Today, the ATF showed up with 16 agents, most from out-of-state from cities like LA and San Francisco, to “inspect” Adventure Outdoors in Smyrna, GA.
This visit was unprecedented. The sheer amount of agents from the bluest parts of the country is unusual and unnecessary to conduct a routine audit.
This is a prime example of Joe Biden and the Democrats weaponizing federal agencies to silence and intimidate their political opponents. I fear this is just the beginning and they are directly targeting our Second Amendment and our right to protect and defend our families.
I’m proud to have joined my colleagues to do our job and conduct Congressional Oversight on this highly suspect “inspection.”
Wait, what? Is the ATF so short-staffed that it had to call in agents from Los Angeles and San Francisco to carry out a raid in rural Georgia? Or is the sinister authoritarianism implicit in this raid strongest on the Left Coast, and so it was easiest for the ATF to find agents who were willing to go along with this politicized charade in Pelosi SSR? Either way, Greene is very likely correct that “this is a prime example of Joe Biden and the Democrats weaponizing federal agencies to silence and intimidate their political opponents.” Or are we to believe that it’s a total coincidence that a gun store is the victim of an ATF raid just days before it hosts a singular champion of the Second Amendment and of patriots nationwide?
An even more disquieting “coincidence” unfolded at Matt Taibbi’s home. The Wall Street Journal editorial board, as Stephen Green notes, asked “when did the IRS start to dispatch agents for surprise house calls?” Good question. And how amazing that this very first IRS home visit should happen on the very same day that its target was away in Washington, talking to Congress about how federal agencies had been corrupted, politicized, and weaponized?
The IRS justified the home visit by claiming that there was a problem with Taibbi’s 2018 and 2021 returns, but millions of people have had similar minor problems without having IRS agents show up at their door. The Journal explains, “Typically when the IRS challenges some part of a tax return, it sends a dunning letter. Or it might seek more information from the taxpayer or tax preparer. If the IRS wants to audit a return, it schedules a meeting at the agent’s office. It doesn’t drop by unannounced.” Indeed.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has written to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen about this strange IRS home visit, suggesting that it may have been “a thinly-veiled attempt to influence or intimidate a witness before Congress.” In light of the fact that IRS agents have never been known to visit people’s homes without warning, it’s hard to see how it could be anything but that.
Related: Biden Wants to Sic the IRS on Restaurant Servers
The IRS is already one of the most hated and feared of all federal agencies, and as Stephen Green notes, its weaponization began during the Obama administration, when the infamous Lois Lerner began persecuting conservative nonprofit organizations. Back in April 2017, then-House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady and then-Tax Policy Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam asked the Justice Department to reopen a probe into Lerner’s conduct. They wrote that the House Ways and Means Committee had “found that Ms. Lerner used her position to improperly influence IRS action against conservative organizations, denying these groups due process and protection rights under the law.” Nothing was done, of course, and now Lois Lerner’s friends and colleagues are back in power.
Today’s IRS and ATF agents make Lois Lerner look like an impartial, honest, trustworthy public servant. It’s clear that Biden’s handlers, having already turned the Justice Department into a tool of their agenda, have now corrupted the IRS and ATF in a similar way, and turned them against those who dare to resist the implementation of their socialist agenda. Is there anyone among our elected officials in Washington who has the will to stop all this?
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