Ron Paul: Deep State and Fake News Normalize Obtrusive Income Tax Privacy Invasions

The deep state and the corporate fake news think they pulled a fast one on President Donald Trump, releasing his tax returns from the 1980s and 1990s that show he lost a ton of money during that era.

Although the news was widely publicized at the time and acknowledged by Trump on various occasions, the low information mob cackled to rub it in the face of Trump anyway.

While this story disappeared from the headlines almost immediately, former Texas Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) is worried about the implications the release will have on privacy rights moving forward.

“What should be of great concern is the possibility that the person who leaked the returns — who the paper says has legal access to President Trump’s tax records — is an IRS employee seeking to undermine the president,” Paul wrote in an op/ed published in May by the Orange County Register.

Paul pointed out how the IRS targeted him with abusive, harassing measures years ago while Obama was in office.

“In 2014-2017, my Campaign for Liberty group was repeatedly threatened by the IRS because it refused to give the agency the names of and other information about its top supporters. Fortunately, the IRS rescinded the regulation forcing groups like Campaign for Liberty to violate supporters’ privacy or face legal penalties,” Paul noted.

However, privacy rights are under attack with legislation advanced by Congress that would deny groups like Campaign for Liberty the right to protect donor privacy.

“However, campaign finance reform legislation that recently passed in the House of Representatives would require the IRS to resume collecting this information, and the New York attorney general is suing the IRS to force the agency to reinstate the regulation,” Paul wrote.

He noted that this information may be used by government agents to intimidate and harass political donors, making it less likely for them to participate in the political process.

Paul pointed to tea party leaders targeted by Obama and anti-war activists targeted by Bush as recent examples of this taking place.

“If the Times did obtain Trump’s tax returns information from an IRS employee, that employee is not in the same category as whistleblowers like Edward Snowden or Chelsea Manning who exposed government wrongdoing. The leaker or leakers of President Trump’s information are releasing private tax information,” Paul wrote.

“The IRS regularly violates the civil liberties of taxpayers. In fact, the income tax system forcing taxpayers to reveal potentially incriminating information on their tax returns violates the principles of a free society. Americans’ liberty and prosperity will never be secure until Congress repeals two great mistakes of 1913: the income tax and the Federal Reserve,” Paul concluded.