The Trump administration is preparing to install “allies” at the criminal investigative division of the IRS to target “major Democratic donors,” according to a report.
A list of potential targets being drawn up by a senior IRS official includes the billionaire philanthropist George Soros, who President Donald Trump has said “should be in jail,” and his Open Society Foundations, The Wall Street Journal reports. Soros and the foundations have been donors to many Democratic candidates and have been frequent targets for the right-wing base.
The move would make it easier for the Trump administration to probe left-wing groups and donors as they seek to “exert firmer control over the unit and weaken the involvement of IRS lawyers in criminal investigations,” according to the outlet.
The plans are reportedly being spearheaded by Gary Shapley, an adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who served earlier this year as IRS commissioner for just three days.
Shapley has reportedly told staff he would replace the current chief of the investigative unit, Guy Ficco.
Shapley reportedly told the Journal that he was “grateful to continue in my role in reforming the IRS,” but did not answer further questions.
A Treasury spokesperson told the outlet that Bessent’s team was bringing “the best of America’s private sector practices and organization” to the agency.
“The team’s focus remains collections, privacy, and customer service,” the spokesperson added.
The IRS criminal investigative division probes potential criminal violations of the tax code, and has more than 2,000 agents at its disposal.
Trump’s allies “encountered obstacles in a separate effort to strip tax-exempt status from certain nonprofits” and have since turned to using the IRS criminal investigative division, according to the Journal.
It is illegal for most officials in the Executive Branch, including the president, vice president and any staffers of the Executive Office, to request an IRS audit or investigation into a specific taxpayer, or to interfere with an ongoing probe.
After former President Richard Nixon attempted to weaponize the IRS to investigate his political enemies, Congress passed bipartisan legislation seeking to limit potential political interference in IRS operations, the Tax Law Center stated.
It is the latest in a series of moves by Trump and his allies to rail against left-wing groups and his “enemies,” blaming them for growing hostility against conservatives.
Lately, Trump has publicly demanded the Justice Department bring federal racketeering charges against Democratic mega-donor Soros and his son, Alex, baselessly claiming they support “violent protests” through the Open Society Foundation.
In a previous statement, the organization called the president’s accusations “outrageous and false” and said the group “does not support or fund violent protests.”
“Our mission is to advance human rights, justice, and democratic principles at home and around the world,” the group said. “We stand for fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution, including the rights to free speech and peaceful protest that are hallmarks of any vibrant democracy”.
Bessent, while discussing the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, said this week that the Treasury Department was moving forward in targeting financial networks that allegedly support violent left-wing groups.
There is no evidence that Kirk’s accused killer had ties to left-wing groups.
“We have started to compile lists of the other networks, and there’s a long record here,” he told MAGA podcaster Andrew Kolvet. “This is mission-critical for us now… We are operationalizing this here at Treasury.”
