[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 170 (Wednesday, September 29, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6755-S6756]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                        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

[[Page S6756]]

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.