Republican senators are questioning the IRS about its audit of a watchdog organization that has released reports on multiple Biden nominees to key federal positions.
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel on Thursday asking for answers about the agency’s investigation into the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), a nonprofit watchdog that has reported on several President Joe Biden’s nominees who were later withdrawn from consideration.
“The IRS is once again harassing conservative groups. It should be no surprise to see Joe Biden borrowing directly from the Obama playbook,” Vance posted on X, sharing the letter to Werfel.
The IRS is once again harassing conservative groups. It should be no surprise to see Joe Biden borrowing directly from the Obama playbook.
I won't stand for it – @SenatorBraun and I are demanding answers on this clear weaponization of our government. pic.twitter.com/vRGGFfFq2F
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) November 16, 2023
In September, the AAF was told by the IRS that it was being investigated about whether it “operates in accordance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.”
“But, to date, the IRS has neither presented any evidence that AAF has failed to observe the requirements of section 501(c)(3) nor explained why AAF may be at risk of failing to observe those requirements,” Vance and Braun said. “We do not need to remind you that the AAF audit follows on the heels of an ugly chapter in the IRS’s history, during which the agency unfairly targeted conservative groups for scrutiny on the basis of their views.”
Vance and Braun asked Werfel if there had been any internal discussions on the AAF’s political orientation and why it was singled out for audit out of the thousands of nonprofits.
The AAF repeatedly drew attention to Biden FCC chair nominee Gigi Sohn’s claims that Fox News was “state-sponsored propaganda.” After months of pressure and criticism from Republican lawmakers, Sohn withdrew her nomination.
The AAF also raised red flags about two other failed Biden nominees, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration nominee Ann Carlson and FAA nominee Phillip Washington. The Biden administration withdrew Carlson’s nomination in May, and Washington withdrew from his nomination in March.
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On Wednesday, Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) tweeted out an article on the investigation and commented, “Someone seems nervous.”
Someone seems nervous 👀https://t.co/rX9in6vAry pic.twitter.com/b453OlbMMp
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) November 15, 2023
In a statement to The Daily Wire, AAF President Tom Jones said that the IRS and Whitehouse were trying to intimidate them.
“These thuggish, Soviet-style, tactics of intimidation are things I never thought I’d see in America. This country was founded so that men would be free, yet today we have elected government officials publicly boasting over having their enemies punished. It’s a chilling warning about the state of our republic. We have a God-given right – indeed, a duty – to hold the powerful accountable and we will continue to do so no matter what petty tyrants and tin pot wannabe dictators like Sheldon Whitehouse have to say about it as he sits in his elite whites-only country clubs.”
During the Obama years, the IRS was heavily scrutinized after it reportedly targeted Tea Party groups.