Looks Like There's a Second Whistleblower Alleging Trump Acted Improperly
By Colin Kalmbacher, Law & Crime
27 September 19
Have you got a case of whistleblower complaint fatigue? If so, this story
might not be for you.
While President Donald Trump currently has his handsand the Department of
Justicefull with allegations of impropriety vis-à-vis the
Ukraine-phone-call-whistleblower-complaint-cover-up scandal, there is
reportedly another whistleblower and concomitant complaint waiting for the
45th president in the wings.
A little-noticed court filing from August contains a shocking allegation
made by a disgruntled Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee: that
President Trump attempted to interfere with some aspect of the agencys
mandatory presidential audit system.
That court filing includes a letter authored by House Ways and Means
Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) which is addressed to Treasury Secretary
Steve Mnuchin and describes the situation thusly:
On July 29, 2019, the Committee received an unsolicited communication from a
Federal employee setting forth credible allegations of evidence of possible
misconduct-specifically, potential inappropriate efforts to influence the
mandatory audit program.
House Democrats were apparently already worried about such an improper use
of presidential power in the abstract.
This is a grave charge that appreciably heightens the Committees concerns
about the absence of appropriate safeguards as part of the mandatory audit
program and whether statutory codification of such program or other
remedial, legislative measures are warranted, the letter continues.
Beyond general concerns, however, Democrats now claim to have some
undisclosedbut specificinformation supporting that belief. And they seem
to think the Trump Administration is lying about it.
The Neal-Mnuchin letter continues:
The Committee has raised these concerns repeatedly, both in prior
correspondence as well as at the June 10 briefing with staff from both
Treasury and the IRS. Commissioner [Charles] Rettig, in his May 17, 2019
letter, responded that the concern that IRS employees could be subject to
undue influence when conducting mandatory audits of a Presidents tax
returns is unfounded. The allegations received by the Committee cast
doubt on this statement and underscore the pressing need for complete and
meaningful oversight of the mandatory audit program.
As a result of that IRS whistleblower complaint, Neal requested a rolling
production of documents and communications of specified Treasury and IRS
employees.
Mnuchin was sent the letter on August 8 and given a deadline of August 13 to
replywhich he did. In his response, Mnuchin declined to cooperate with
Neals request and said he referred the matter to the Treasury Departments
Office of Inspector General (OIG).
Neal and others on the Ways and Means Committee have remained tight-lipped
about the allegations and the person who made them in publicbut offered to
provide extensive details to Trump-appointed Judge Trevor McFadden, who is
overseeing the Houses lawsuit over the 45th presidents ever elusive tax
returns.
A donor to President Trumps 2016 presidential campaign and transition
volunteer, McFadden reacted to the whistleblower allegations with a
distinctly judicial nonchalancehes so far declined to take the Democrats
up on their offer, according to HuffPost.
Law&Crime reached out to Treasury Department Inspector General Eric Thorson
via email for comment on this story but no response was forthcoming at the
time of publication. Attempts to elicit information about this story from
Rep. Neals press team were similarly unsuccessful.
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