The Internal Revenue Service is being sued by a prominent economist after it allegedly failed to fulfill a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
Peter Schiff, economist and commentator, has filed a lawsuit against the IRS, accusing the government agency of withholding information pertaining to him and the shut down of his Puerto Rico based bank which was shut down by the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF), the criminal investigation wing of the IRS, in 2022.
The FOIA request relates to an IRS press conference hosted in Puerto Rico on June 30, 2022, on behalf of the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5), which comprises of tax offices in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and the Netherlands that conduct investigations into transnational tax crimes. Schiff requested to have any recordings of the event, as well as a written transcript.
The details of what was said during the press conference are not known.
Schiff also requested all “email or text correspondences between the parties involved in the press conference that relate to arranging the press conference, or where the press conference was discussed, both before or after it occurred.”
In his original correspondence to the IRS requesting the information under the act, Schiff wrote: “All of the information I am requesting are communication correspondences, which is non-exempt public information under FOIA. These correspondences were made between U.S. government employees and members of the media. None of the requested information is confidential or it would not have already been shared with reporters.”
The lawsuit claims the IRS failed to deliver the relevant information requested by Schiff on time after Schiff denied the IRS an extension to the time period in which to return the requested materials.
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, Schiff said: “The OCIF Commissioner and IRS Chief Lee lied during a press conference by saying OCIF acted independently to shut down my bank. In fact they conspired to shut it down, without any legitimate legal reason.” Chief Jim Lee left the IRS in April this year.
The OCIF Commissioner and IRS Chief Lee lied during a press conference by saying OCIF acted independently to shut down my bank. In fact they conspired to shut it down, without any legitimate legal reason. The bank and its customers were sacrificed purely as a PR stunt for the J5.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) July 30, 2024
In 2022, the operations of Schiff’s Puerto Rico-based Euro Pacific International Bank were suspended by the OFIC after being suspected of having facilitated money laundering and tax evasion. Newsweek has contacted the IRS and lawyers for Schiff via email for comment outside of normal working hours.
“There is no doubt that OCIF’s work sends a strong message to others that the Puerto Rican financial industry will not be a haven for tax evaders or illegal conduct. We stand here together today to display the strong partnership we have with OCIF and to commend their leadership for taking decisive action,” Lee said at the time.
A press release issued by the Australian government in 2022 said the OCIF’s “decisions were independent of the J5. The J5 did not participate in the investigation by OCIF but welcomed the result.”
Responding to a query on X regarding why the bank was shut down, Schiff replied: “So they could pretend the bank was laundering money and helping criminals evade taxes, then take credit for shutting it down. They needed to show some progress to justify the taxpayer expense. Plus, they likely wanted to punish me for my political views.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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