Assistant Treasury Secretary Kenneth Kies has been removed from his position after he reportedly warned that the Trump administration might be breaking a law that stops White House officials from getting involved in IRS audits.The Wall Street Journal reported this on Thursday.
The report said:
Kies at times clashed behind the scenes with White House officials, the people said. That included a recent meeting in which he contended that a potential White House request would violate Section 7217 of the Internal Revenue Code, one of the people said. That law prohibits the president, vice president, White House staff and certain agency heads from directly or indirectly requesting that the IRS conduct or terminate an audit or investigation of any particular taxpayer.
Kies also works as the acting chief counsel at the IRS.
According to sources close to the situation, the Journal said Kies will be leaving in the near future.
Section 7217 of the IRS code says it is illegal for anyone to ask, directly or indirectly, any IRS officer or employee to start or stop an audit or investigation of a specific taxpayer regarding their tax liability.
The Journal didn’t say exactly what requests Kies was objecting to.
On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that Kies would leave the Treasury Department, but didn’t explain why.
In January, President Donald Trump sued the IRS for $10 billion, claiming the agency had unfairly targeted him, his oldest son Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump, as well as the Trump Organization, which the sons run.
The president later dropped the lawsuit in January in exchange for the Treasury Department creating a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization fund” to help some of his political allies, including those possibly involved in the Capitol riot.However, this plan was put on hold after strong pressure from both major political parties.
About the Author
Donald Trump is a liar, a crook, and a rapist, a convicted criminal on 34 counts, and a two-time impeached President. If Trump could hide his crimes, he would.