Source
In “
A
Brief History of IRS Political Targeting” author James Bovard tells story
about four US Presidents who were actively using the IRS to go after their
opponents. This article appeared on 5/15/2013 in the Wall Street Journal.
The Discordant Voices Of Extremism
These words were used by JFK
in a
speech
on 11/18/1961. “Shortly thereafter, JFK signaled at a news conference that
he expected the IRS to be vigilant in policing the tax-exempt status of
questionable (read: conservative) organizations.
Within a few days of Kennedy's
remarks, the IRS launched the Ideological Organizations Audit Project. It
targeted right-leaning groups, including the Christian Anti-Communist Crusade,
the American Enterprise Institute and the Foundation for Economic Education.
Kennedy also used the IRS to strong-arm companies into complying with
"voluntary" price controls. Steel executives who defied the
administration were singled out for audits.
A 1976 report by the Senate
Select Committee on Government Intelligence on the Kennedy program noted:
"By directing tax audits at individuals and groups solely because of their
political beliefs, the Ideological Organizations Audit Project established a
precedent for a far more elaborate program of targeting 'dissidents.'"”
“d. IRS Investigations of
Political Organizations
The lES program that came to
be used against the domestic dissi- dents
of the 1960s was first used against Communists in the 1950s. As part of its COINTELPRO against the
Communist Party, the FBI arranged for
IRS investigations of Pai'ty members, and ob- tained their tax returns.^^° In its efforts
against the Connnunist Party, the FBI
had unlimited access to tax returns : it never told the IRS why it wanted them, and IRS never attempted to
find out.^^^ In 1961, responding to White House and congressional interest in right-wing organizations, the IRS began
comprehensive investiga- tions of
right-wing groups to identify contributors and ascertain whether or not some of them were entitled to
their tax exempt status.^^^ Left-wing groups were later added, in
an effort to avoid charges that such IRS
activities were all aimed at one part of the political spectrum. Both right- and left-wing groups were selected
for review and investi- gation because
of their political activity and not because of any infor- mation that they had violated the tax laws.^^^
While the IRS efforts begun in 1961 to
investigate the political activities of
tax exempt organizations were not as extensive as later ""Memorandum from J. Edgar Hoover
to R. F. Kennedy, 11/20/63. (John F. Kennedy
Library.) ^" Memorandum from
Attorney General Kennedy to the President, 4/12/62 en- closing memorandum from Director. FBI, to the
Attorney General, 4/12/62 ; testimony of
Courtney Evans, former Assistant Director, FBI, 12/l/7r>, p. .39. "" Letter from Attorney General
McGrath to President Truman, 12/7/49 ; letter from J. Edgar Hoover to Maj. Gen. Harry H.
Vaughn, Military Aide to the Presi- dent,
1/14/50. ^™ Memorandum from J. Edgar
Hoover to Attorney General William P. Rogers, 5/2.5/60. '** Memorandum from A. H. Belmont to L. V.
Boardman, 8/28/56, p. 4. '"^ Leon
Green testimony, 9/12/75, pp. 6-8. ^*''
Memorandum, William Loeb, Assistant Commissioner, Compliance to Dem. J. Barron, Director of Audit, 11/30/61. ^^ Memorandum, Attorney Assistant to
Commis.sion to Director, IRS Audit Division,
4/2/62. 54 programs
in 1969-1973, they were a significant departure by the IRS from normal enforcement criteria for
investigating persons or groups on
the basis of information indicating noncompliance. By directing tax audits at individuals and groups solely
because of their political beliefs, the Ideological Organizations Audit Project
(as the 1961 pro- gram was known )^^*
established a precedent for a far more elaborate program of targeting "dissidents."
^^^”
