Taibbi and fellow journalist Michael Shellenberger got a cold reception from congressional Democrats three weeks ago at a House Judiciary Committee hearing to discuss the weaponizing of the federal government. Ironically, an FBI agent was making an unannounced visit to Taibbi's home at the very same time. The agent said the IRS was rejecting Taibbi's 2018 and 2021 tax returns over concerns about "identity theft. "
Dan Schneider of MRC's Free Speech America contends it was all a ruse. "I think the deep state is sending a message to anybody who's going to question the regime: If you step out of line, we're going to step on you," he tells AFN.
The IRS has been accused of targeting conservative Americans since Lois Lerner (an IRS unit director during the Obama era) was caught denying tax-exempt status to certain organizations because of their political leanings. Schneider says Lerner plied her trade in the dark, trying to hide the IRS's bias.
"[But] I think what we now see is that the IRS is doing this in a very public way," he offers. "They've not denied that they sent an agent to match Taibbi's house; and they've not denied that it's intimidating to have that happen."
Schneider argues that the federal government – from the IRS to the Justice Department and beyond – is indeed being weaponized against conservatives and Christians.
"That's like the first thing an authoritarian [government] does: try to take away your free-speech rights," he exclaims. "And the second thing they do is try to take away Second Amendment rights."
During an interview on Wednesday, Congressman Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) stated there are ways Congress can combat the weaponization of government: bring the abuse to light, put the findings into action – and exercise the House's "power of the purse."
