DOREEN TAKES ON ENTIRE TRUMP FAMILY

I have known her for decades and while I have not always agreed with her decisions, there is no doubt in my mind that she will stand up to and fight anyone who threatens the members of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). Absolutely anyone! Last week she did it by calling out the entire Trump family not only on behalf of her members, but also everyone else in the country who  believes it was illegal for Trump to direct his appointees at the Treasury Department and IRS to give his entire clan immunity from income tax laws. She filed suit in federal court to challenge the legality of the President’s scam. Doreen is … Doreen Greenwald, the President of NTEU. She spent most of her career before becoming the union leader at IRS chasing down business owners who tried to evade their tax obligations. Given Trump’s habit of using the government to seek revenge against anyone who offends him, she deserves a bundle of credit. 

The union’s lawsuit contends that the President’s tax dodge creates an impossible situation for IRS employees.  Will they be fired for complying with the slimy, self-serving deal or fired for following the actual federal law which they took an oath to follow?  Which is it? For example, if the computer reviews some Trump family member’s return and concludes it shows fraud is the IRS employee who gets that message supposed to bury that or follow the law and send it for investigation?  If someone sends IRS evidence of the family hiding taxable income, does the employee send that to the shredder or for investigation?  If one of the clan’s member simply did not file a tax return, will the IRS employee who spots that be fired for forcing them to file or fired for not forcing them to file as legally obligated?

Aside from the fact that the Trump family’s con puts the IRS employees in an impossible situation, it also forces them to violate the oath they took to follow the law. If you are not convinced yet, imagine this situation.  A family member, or maybe one of his golf course companies, filed a return showing it was entitled to millions of dollars in a refund that they clearly and unquestionably were not.  Does the IRS employee refuse to authorize the statutory rip off or simply tell the computer to cut a check?

While a federal judge has declared the Trump deal illegal, likely triggering years of appeals, that does little for the IRS employee who could be fired at any moment for enforcing the tax laws the rest of us must follow. NTEU deserves a lot of credit for being the David to this moment’s Goliath. You go Doreen!