DSC05476 by Neon Tommy is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel confirmed today that the IRS plans to hire roughly 1,200 additional armed IRS agents as a result of the $80 billion in increased IRS funding passed in Democrats’ misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.
While testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday, Werfel confirmed that it “sounds about right” when asked by Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) if he could confirm the IRS’ Criminal Investigation Unit planned to add “an approximate net gain of 1,200 special agents considering attrition.” Werfel then went on to confirm that those same agents “are armed.”
Below is video of the full exchange:
REP. SMITH: “It’s my understanding from a communication I received from your agency last fall that Criminal Investigations plans to hire 360 special agents per year – per year – over the next five years for an approximate net gain of 1,200 special agents considering attrition. Is that accurate?“
WERFEL: “That sounds about right. Again Criminal investigation Division deals with fraud and significant cases of tax evasion.”
REP. SMITH: “Correct, and those special agents are armed, is that correct?”
WERFEL: “They are armed. It’s less than 3 percent of the IRS workforce.”
TIGTA REPORT FOUND IRS AGENTS ACCIDENTALLY FIRE THEIR WEAPONS MORE OFTEN THAN THEY INTENTIONALLY FIRE THEM
A TIGTA report found that special agents at the IRS Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) accidentally fired their weapons more often than they intentionally fired them:
“According to documentation provided by all 26 CI field offices, the NCITA, and the TIGTA OI, there were a total of eight firearm discharges classified as intentional use of force incidents and 11 discharges classified as accidental during FYs 2009 through 2011.”
EVEN BEFORE IRA’s $80 BILLION FOR IRS, AGENTS ALREADY HAD AN ARSENAL OF 4,600 GUNS AND FIVE MILLION ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION
An OpenTheBooks report titled The Militarization of U.S. Executive Agencies shows that, even before the $80 billion increase in funding, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI) was already heavily armed at the expense of the American taxpayer.
The 4,600-gun stockpile includes:
3,282 pistols
621 shotguns
539 rifles
15 fully automatic firearms
4 revolvers
According to the Government Accountability Office the ammunition breakdown is as follows:
- Pistol and revolver rounds: 3,151,500
- Rifle rounds: 1,472,050
- Shotgun rounds: 367,750
- Fully automatic firearm rounds: 56,000
When OpenTheBooks directly asked the IRS for an accounting of its gun locker, the agency responded, “We don’t have one [an inventory], but could create one for you, if important.”
IRS CONCEALS DETAILS OF ACCIDENTAL GUN DISCHARGES
The agency’s lackadaisical approach to firearm safety has led to easily preventable accidents. The Inspector General cryptically references IRS accidental discharges that caused “property damage or personal injury”:
“In three of the four accidental discharges that were not reported, the accidental discharges may have resulted in property damage or personal injury.”
The details of these incidents are — for some reason — redacted in the report:
IRS-CI management is required to be notified when a special agent discharges their weapon. CI must report all accidental discharge incidents externally to the TIGTA OI and internally to the NCITA and the Director of Field Operations. Despite these directives, CI did not always properly disclose accidental discharges:
“we found that four accidental discharges were not properly reported. This included two that were not reported to both to the TIGTA OI and the NCITA, one that was not reported to the TIGTA OI, and one that was not reported internally to the NCITA.”