IRS Scandal: I was targeted

IRS Scandal: I was targeted and I've got proof it was a Democratically-led conspiracy

By Wayne Allyn Root

Published May 05, 2015

FoxNews.com

I was targeted by the IRS in a coordinated attack at the highest levels of government...and we now have the proof.

My IRS files, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Judicial Watch, clearly implicate the IRS and a Democratic U.S. senator.

An IRS audit that required researching my political views clearly wasn’t a “normal random audit.” I was targeted for my political views. My civil rights were clearly violated.

Per Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch: 

“The Obama IRS obstructed the release of Wayne Root’s tax documents. The abuse of process Judicial Watch and Wayne suffered through to get these documents is scandalous. Now we know why the Obama IRS was hesitant to give Wayne his own IRS files. These documents show the Obama IRS scandal was more than just suppressing the Tea Party, it was also about auditing critics of President Obama. Richard Nixon had to resign from office for less. The first order of business for AG Loretta Lynch should be to appoint a special counsel who can convene a grand jury to look into the Obama IRS outrages.”

As you’ll read below, the fingerprints of the Obama administration and the Democratic Party are all over my case. Until now, no one could prove the IRS was using politics as a basis for vicious attacks against critics of the president. That just changed.

I was audited in 2011, and it started in a way that government officials and IRS spokesmen claimed in a recent Wall Street Journal article can never happen -- with a phone call.

The IRS agent left a voicemail, and then took another unheard-of step and called my accountant, who had my power of attorney and told the agent he was forbidden to ever contact me again.

Yet the IRS agent called me again, only minutes later, telling me all about my political views. How did an IRS agent know about my political views? Why was he telling me my political views? I felt like I was being stalked.

So here's a question for the IRS spokesman and the official for the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (both quoted in the WSJ article saying no IRS audit ever begins with a phone call)… Are you sticking to your story that the IRS never calls taxpayers? Or is the correct wording, “The IRS never calls taxpayers, unless they are critics of the president?"

After spending thousands of dollars, I won in Tax Court in 2012. Five days later, I was targeted to be audited again. To my attorney’s knowledge, this has never happened before.

After winning my case the second time, I contacted government watchdog Judicial Watch, which took my case and requested my tax files under the Freedom of Information Act. By law, the IRS has 30 days to comply. They stalled and refused for 14 months. The question is why would a government agency disobey the law for 13 months?

Now come the political and criminal revelations. The IRS is supposed to be totally nonpolitical, as it must be in a free and fair democratic society. Do you know what my IRS tax file says?

“SENSITIVE CASE.”

Do you know the date “SENSITIVE CASE” was written on my tax file? The week Lois Lerner testified in Congress.

The only thing “SENSITIVE” about my case is that I’m a conservative political columnist and commentator often critical of the president. The only context where “sensitive” applies to me is “POLITICALLY SENSITIVE."

Why would a citizen’s tax file be tied to his politics? Why would the IRS know my politics? Why would a normal random audit be classified as "SENSITIVE?'

But we’re only getting started with the criminal implications of this case. My IRS auditor wrote into the margin of my file that he spent hours researching my political views. How chilling is that revelation? It sounds like the KGB, Stasi or even the Gestapo.

An IRS audit that required researching my political views clearly wasn’t a “normal random audit.” I was targeted for my political views. My civil rights were clearly violated.

The reason it may have taken the IRS fourteen months to turn my IRS files over to Judicial Watch is that they state a United States senator from Oregon was involved. At the time both senators from Oregon were Democrats. But only one, Ron Wyden, was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee with oversight over … the IRS. Could Ron Wyden have been the Democrat senator involved in my case?

If so, why was a U.S. senator involved in a "normal random audit?" Why was an Oregon Senator involved in the audit of a Nevada small businessman? Since when do United States Senators get involved in IRS audits?

Could someone have asked the Oregon Senator to get involved? The dots are not hard to connect. Was he asked by someone in the White House to initiate an IRS attack on Wayne Root? Afterall I’m not just any conservative critic of President Obama. I’m the former Columbia college classmate of Obama. With about 6,000 media appearances on Fox News and conservative talk radio and other outlets since Obama became president, it’s not a stretch to think I caught the attention of the Obama White House.

Why would any U.S. Senator -- from either the Democratic or Republican parties -- be involved in any individual's IRS audit? You mean dealing with Iran's nuclear threat, ISIS, Obamacare and $18 trillion in debt isn't taking up enough of your time?

But wait, we’re not done. On May 23, 2013, my case was officially closed. Recognize that date? It's the exact day that IRS official Lois Lerner was suspended and the day after she testified in front of Congress (and refused to answer questions on the grounds it might incriminate her). Coincidence?

Why was my case closed? The IRS auditor handling my case informed my tax attorney that he had just been called by a top IRS official demanding the case be closed immediately. Why would a top IRS official get involved in my case? Who asked him to make that call? Did he know the politically damaging details of this audit marked “SENSITIVE CASE"? Why did it happen the very day after Lois Lerner's testimony?

There is no debate. I am living proof that there was a widespread political witch hunt and criminal conspiracy within the IRS. It is also proof that this scandal extended beyond the IRS to high-level Democrats -- including a specific Democratic U.S. Senator. It's all in black and white in my personal IRS tax files. These are facts.

My files have been turned over to U.S. Senate investigators. I stand ready and eager to testify.
Now it’s time for the mainstream media to do their job and connect the dots. Remember, I’m not just any conservative media personality. I’m President Obama’s Columbia College classmate (Class of ’83) who has repeatedly questioned his background and agenda. It appears my criticisms hit too close to home.

Did someone in Obama’s White House call the IRS to target me, then ask the Oregon Senator to oversee and coordinate the attack? Or did the Obama White House cover their own involvement by asking the Oregon Senator to initiate the IRS attack? These are questions that either U.S. Senate investigators or a special cousel appointed by the new U.S. Attorney General need to ask. This same kind of behavior forced Richard Nixon to resign from the presidency.

One thing is now clear: I was the victim of a politically motivated criminal attack by the IRS.

Game on.

Author's note:  Here are the notes on Wayne Root's IRS tax files as provided by investigators at Judicial Watch:

1. "Sensitive Case" is a handwritten notation on an IRS Special Handling Notice for Examination Processing found on page 949 (the last page of the file). It is dated May 23, 2013. It's worth noting that that's the very day that Lois Lerner was suspended and the day after her Congressional testimony (in which she refused to answer questions).

2. Notes regarding the IRS examiner's research regarding Wayne's political activities are found in an Examining Officer's Activity Record on pages 104-105 of the documents. The notation reads in part, "RA [Revenue Agent] researched the Internet about TP/Wayne Root. Wayne Root is a public figure whose career includes working as a (1) columnist for the Las Vegas Review Journal and Newsmax.com (2) guest commentator on Fox News, CNBC, CNN, and MSNBC, and (3) his being a guest host on nationally syndicated radio shows (i.e. - The G. Gordon Liddy Show, The Jerry Doyle Show, etc.)."

3. E-mails among IRS employees found on pages 799 through 801 of the documents show that an inquiry about Wayne's audit was made from a Senator representing Oregon.

4. The date of the closing of the audit is reflected on the Special Handling Notice referenced in item 1 above. Additionally, an Examining Officer's Activity Record found on page 682-683 confirms May 23, 2013 as the date of closing.

Wayne Allyn Root is a Capitalist Evangelist, serial entrepreneur, conservative national media commentator, and proud champion of the middle class. He is a former Libertarian vice presidential nominee, now back to the GOP. Wayne's latest book is "The Murder of the Middle Class" (Regenery 2014).  For more, visit his website: www.ROOTforAmerica.com. Follow him on Twitter@WayneRoot.