Thursday, December 12, 2024
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IRS Agents Have Traded Pocket Protectors for Firearms



We used to think IRS agents were nerds who wore pocket protectors, but in an ad seeking new employees, agency officials clearly don’t have Steve Urkel in mind.

They want Rambo.

The new ad advertises for 360 newly created criminal investigation positions. Successful applicants will, of course, collect your hard-earned money to fund federal projects, pork-barrel or otherwise.

And these assignments are apparently dangerous.

New hires will execute search warrants. The ad said agents will need guns to protect themselves “from physical attacks at any time and without warning.” The feds say these agents may also use deadly force.

RELATED: Congress Lacks Oversight When Con Artists Swindle Taxpayers

The IRS wants criminal investigation agents in all 50 states. Agency officials are hiring the highest number of agents in Texas. That indicates the IRS expects Lone Star State taxpayers to resist the most against that agency’s collection efforts. The ad says the agency is hiring for 20 sites in Texas, 18 sites in California, and 13 sites in both Florida and New York.

For these positions, the agency will hire only U.S. citizens between the ages of 21 to 37. Applicants must successfully pass a background check and a drug test. And, finally, “be legally allowed to carry a firearm.”

According to the Washington, D.C.-based Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), the IRS recently accepted $80 billion in additional funding that “provides no new protections for taxpayers.”

“Combined with the IRS history of firearms mismanagement and lack of respect for due process, this is cause for concern among law abiding Americans,” the ATR said.

IN THE NEWS: Congress Spent $26 Billion on Pork Barrel Projects in 2023

The ATR reported IRS agents “accidentally fire their weapons more often than they intentionally fire them” and “conceal details of accidental gun discharges.” They also have a history of violating due process rights and have conducted too many armed raids on innocent Americans.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) warned in an audit last year that rogue IRS employees or contractors could, potentially, access one or more taxpayers’ personal information and use it to harm the public. And if that happens then IRS leadership might never know. 

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