TAXPAYER WATCHDOG CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE INVESTIGATION OF IRS AFTER PROPUBLICA LEAK

Washington, D.C. – The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) issued a warning about today’s ProPublica leak, a glaring lapse in data security, and called for an immediate investigation of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 

The leak showed the tax code being followed with no news or whistleblowing. In releasing this information, personal and private citizen information was revealed. The IRS handles sensitive information on every taxpayer in America; their inability to prevent a leak like this is deeply concerning and requires an immediate investigation.

TPA Vice President of Policy, Patrick Hedger, released the following statement:

“The only significant thing we learned from ProPublica’s smear job on wealthy individuals following our tax laws is that someone at the IRS is breaking the law. Private information showing absolutely no wrongdoing was leaked to the press to generate populist anger at some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the country.”

Hedger went on to add, “This echoes of the IRS scandals in 2009 and 2015, when the agency targeted conservative nonprofits and individuals for heightened scrutiny and audits. We’re just months into a new Democratic administration and already the law enforcement agency is being used for political ends. There should be an immediate congressional investigation into this matter.”

TPA is committed to holding the IRS accountable, especially when they mismanage taxpayer information and politicize the agency.

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.