High-ranking Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officer Niki Wilkinson was terminated after the Daily Caller reported on her public LinkedIn posts bashing the Trump administration and Republicans, sources close to the White House told the Caller.
Wilkinson accused President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers of “fear mongering” and “falsely describing” the work of former IRS official Holly Paz, who was accused of going after conservative groups with targeted audits.
Paz, who served as deputy to Lois Lerner during the Obama-era Tea Party targeting scandal, was placed on leave by the Trump administration after Republican members of Congress alleged she was using audits of pass-through businesses to go after conservative business owners. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Top IRS Officer Launches Online Tirade Against Republicans)
“Such a farce! Interesting how Senators outside the IRS are fear mongering and falsely describing the work. They have no idea what Examiners found in those audits, which in fact exposed fraud or noncompliance in the passthrough area as for years the IRS didn’t effectively audit them,” Wilkinson wrote in a LinkedIn comment.
Chuck Flint’s LinkedIn post discussing his Fox News interview on Holly Paz and the past targeting of conservative groups.
Wilkinson has also repeatedly used LinkedIn to criticize Trump and his administration, including two posts this week accusing the president of corruption and several others amplifying Democrats’ attacks on the president.
Although she acknowledged that she was not authorized to speak for the IRS, Wilkinson still provided the Caller with detailed comments defending her LinkedIn posts.
She argued that actions by Trump — such as influencing gerrymandering, issuing controversial pardons, and using government positions for personal gain — could constitute corruption. Wilkinson added that she could not recall any other president engaging in similar behavior.
Niki Wilkinson, IRS Appeals Officer, comments on Chuck Flint’s LinkedIn post.
Defending the IRS pass-through unit, she noted that it audits Democrats as well and dismissed claims that Paz personally oversees the audits, emphasizing that she is several layers removed from the examiners. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Watchdog Wants IRS To Take Hard Look At Anti-ICE Nonprofit Raking In Chinese Cash)
Wilkinson later presented the Caller with an organizational chart to illustrate “the various layers” of the chain of command that she alleges would fall directly under Paz at the IRS.
Wilkinson did not respond to a request for comment on her current employment status in time for publication.
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