❓WHAT HAPPENED: A federal judge ruled that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) illegally shared nearly 43,000 taxpayer addresses with U.S. immigration officials.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The ruling was issued on Thursday in Washington, D.C.
💬KEY QUOTE: “The IRS not only failed to ensure that ICE’s request for confidential taxpayer address information met the statutory requirements, but this failure led the IRS to disclose confidential taxpayer addresses to ICE in situations where ICE’s request for that information was patently deficient.” – Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly
🎯IMPACT: Judge Kollar-Kotelly has been one of several District Court judges enabling Democrat lawfare efforts to hinder President Donald J. Trump’s agenda. Last April, the judge blocked part of an election integrity Executive Order issued by President Trump requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly—elevated by former President Bill Clinton but first appointed to the bench by former President Ronald Reagan—ruled on Thursday that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) unlawfully granted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) access to around 43,000 addresses contained in its records. The disclosure, according to the federal government, was part of an effort to integrate and share data across agencies.
“In other words, the IRS not only failed to ensure that ICE’s request for confidential taxpayer address information met the statutory requirements, but this failure led the IRS to disclose confidential taxpayer addresses to ICE in situations where ICE’s request for that information was patently deficient,” Judge Kollar-Kotelly wrote in her ruling. The decision is a significant blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to streamline intra-federal government data sharing, especially when it pertains to information that could assist federal immigration officials with identifying and detaining illegal immigrants.
Kollar-Kotelly’s ruling follows an earlier order issued by the judge in November that prohibited the Trump White House’s data-sharing policies. Notably, that ruling has been appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The National Pulse previously reported that Judge Kollar-Kotelly has been one of several District Court judges enabling Democrat lawfare efforts to hinder President Donald J. Trump’s agenda. Last April, the judge blocked part of an election integrity Executive Order issued by President Trump requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.
.jpg){kind=link}
