Overview
- The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration is preparing changes at the IRS to ease criminal inquiries into left-leaning organizations, with the effort driven by adviser Gary Shapley under Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
- According to the Journal account cited in new commentary, Shapley has assembled a list of donors and groups for scrutiny that includes George Soros affiliates and has already ordered agents to examine specific tax-exempt organizations that oppose the president.
- MSNBC published legal analysis warning that Internal Revenue Code Section 7217 prohibits the president and most senior officials from directly or indirectly requesting IRS audits or investigations and requires IRS employees to report improper requests to the inspector general.
- The analysis notes additional potential exposure under 18 U.S.C. §§ 241–242 for discriminatory enforcement and IRC § 7214 for willful oppression by revenue agents, with penalties that include fines, firing and prison terms.
- No formal rule changes or public policy announcements have been issued, and commentators point to the 2013 IRS targeting controversy and a 2017 settlement as cautionary precedent for legal and institutional backlash.