The publication is reproduced in full below:
Internal Revenue Service
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, more than 3 months ago, ProPublica began publishing a series of stories. These stories were based on what they have described as ``a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation's wealthiest people, covering over 15 years.''
I have spoken about this apparent leak or hack on IRS data before. During the August recess, POLITICO Pro's Morning Tax, writing about ProPublica, noted that ``it's been almost two-and-a-half months since it ran its first story on that leaked tax data and, though the leak is perhaps the worst in the IRS's history, the government has yet . . . to say anything publicly about how it happened.''
As absurd as that statement is, it is also accurate, and I will speak about the accuracy of that. The Biden administration has not said what happened regarding perhaps the worst leak or hack in the history of the IRS.
Now, in doing my constitutional duty of congressional oversight, I have sent letters to the IRS and to the Attorney General and to the FBI, who have provided an embarrassingly small amount of information in response to my letters.
The first ProPublica story was published on June 8 of this year. On June 11, I joined Leader McConnell and Finance Committee Ranking Member Crapo on a letter to Attorney General Garland and FBI Director Wray. Days later, on June 16, I sent a letter with other Judiciary Committee members asking more detailed questions.
It took almost 2 months for the Department of Justice to respond to these letters by sending me two copies of the same form letter in response to my letter. Dated August 10, one of the letters contains an apparent typo in that it purports to be in response to a letter ``dated June 6, 2021.''
Given that ProPublica began publishing stories about this on June 8, if I was clairvoyant enough to write a letter on the leak 2 days earlier, I would already know what really happened. The fact that the Department responded to two different letters with the exact same form letter and couldn't correctly refer to my letters shows a lack of diligence that is not unique to this matter.
In response to a different letter I sent with Senator Crapo to the Commissioner of the IRS, Rettig, I received a recent response that states: ``We do not yet have any information concerning the source of the alleged taxpayer information published by ProPublica.''
Now, the IRS Commissioner is advocating for Congress to pass an expansive new reporting requirement for the IRS. Every bank account over $600 is going to be sent to the IRS for their review and use if they want to go after the taxpayers. If Commissioner Rettig doesn't even know whether the ProPublica information came from the IRS, how can he assure us the IRS can properly protect this new information that they want the Congress to pass? I don't think he is going to be able to convince anybody of that.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the response I have received from the Department of Justice and the IRS be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
U.S. Department of Justice,
Office of Legislative Affairs,
Washington, DC.Hon. Charles E. Grassley,Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Grassley: This responds to your letter to the Attorney General and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) dated June 6, 2021, urging the investigation and prosecution of the disclosure of confidential taxpayer information as reported in the media. We are sending identical responses to the other Senators who joined in your letter. We appreciate knowing of your concerns about this matter.
As you may be aware, the Secretary of the Treasury testified recently that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is looking into the matter as is the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). She further stated that the matter had been referred to the Treasury Inspector General, as well as the Department of Justice.
The Department is committed to taking investigative steps as appropriately predicated and authorized, carefully reviewing referrals we receive, and, as appropriate, considering relevant and admissible evidence in light of the Principles of Federal Prosecution. See Justice Manual 9-27.000. While we understand how important this issue is to you, longstanding Department policy will preclude us from providing your office with any information related to this matter outside the public record.
We hope this information is helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact this office if we may provide additional assistance regarding this or any other matter.
Sincerely,
Joe Gaeta,Deputy Assistant Attorney General.
____
U.S. Department of Justice,
Office of Legislative Affairs,
Washington, DC.Hon. Charles E. Grassley,Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Senator Grassley: This responds to your letter to the Attorney General and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) dated June 11, 2021, urging the investigation and prosecution of the disclosure of confidential taxpayer information as reported in the media. We are sending identical responses to the other Senators who joined in your letter. We appreciate knowing of your concerns about this matter.
As you may be aware, the Secretary of the Treasury testified recently that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is looking into the matter as is the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). She further stated that the matter had been referred to the Treasury Inspector General, as well as the Department of Justice (Department).
The Department is committed to taking investigative steps as appropriately predicated and authorized, carefully reviewing referrals we receive, and, as appropriate, considering relevant and admissible evidence in light of the Principles of Federal Prosecution. See Justice Manual 9-27.000. While we understand how important this issue is to you, longstanding Department policy will preclude us from providing your office with any information related to this matter outside the public record.
We hope this information is helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact this office if we may provide additional assistance regarding this or any other matter.
Sincerely,
Joe Gaeta,
Deputy Assistant Attorney General.
Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I call on Attorney General Garland, FBI Director Wray, and Commissioner Rettig to take the apparent leak or hack of taxpayers' information very seriously and cooperate with our constitutionally mandated responsibility to conduct oversight to see that the laws are faithfully executed.
The protection of taxpayers' information provided to the IRS is of critical importance to the basic functioning of government. Determining the source of the information published by ProPublica should be a top priority for our Nation's tax enforcement Agency and, allegedly, premier law enforcement entity. I intend to continue working with Ranking Member Crapo of the Finance Committee and anybody else to continue looking into this matter. I hope that we are able to resolve how any confidential taxpayer information was obtained from the IRS and those responsible are held accountable.
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 170
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