RESULTS: House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan
opens investigation into the IRS with letter to Secretary Janet Yellen after OMG undercover footage caught IRS official Alex Mena doubting the constitutionality of the IRS system monitoring the bank accounts of everyday Americans.
THE IRS IS NOW BEING INVESTIGATED THANKS TO OMG. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan opens investigation into the IRS with letter to Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen after OMG undercover footage caught IRS official Alex Mena doubting the constitutionality of the IRS system monitoring the bank accounts of everyday Americans. Jordan’s letter cited OMG footage of Mena “working in the agency’s Criminal Investigations Unit, admitting that the IRS has ‘a new system’ that uses AI to target ‘potential abusers’” and how “Mena also noted that IRS agents ‘have no problem, like, going after the small people, you know, putting people in prison. Like destroying people’s lives, they have no problem doing that.’”
One month after James O’Keefe and OMG went undercover and exposed the unconstitutional use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Congressman Jim Jordan, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, requested the full cooperation of the Department of the Treasury in investigating the IRS’ use of AI to surveil Americans’ financial information. In a March 20, 2024 letter by Jordan on behalf of the Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government sent to Janet Yellen, current Secretary of the Treasury and former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Jordan contrasted IRS representations with statements obtained by OMG to justify its Congressional investigation.
Jordan’s letter included a September 2023 announcement by the IRS that with funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, it was using AI to detect “the areas of greatest abuse” “improving visibility on where the wealthy shield their income” as well as a February 28, 2024 acknowledgement the IRS implemented an “enhanced process using AI” since late 2022 “to recover potentially fraudulent payments from financial institutions.” The House Judiciary Committee found these representations in marked conflict with the statements of IRS official Alex Mena caught on hidden camera by OMG describing an IRS that was not simply “improving visibility on where the wealthy shield their income.” Instead, he said the IRS “have no problem, like, going after the small people, you know, putting people in prison. Like destroying people’s lives…” OMG’s footage also showed Mena detail “a new system” in the IRS using AI with the ability to access and monitor “all the information from all the companies in the world” to target “potential abusers” by examining all returns, bank statements, and related financial information for “potential for fraud.” Jordan’s letter stressed that in the OMG video, Mena doubted the constitutionality of IRS use of AI that could “see the amount” in every American’s bank account.
Jordan’s letter went on to assert OMG’s footage of Alex Mena stating the Department of Justice (DOJ) and “Inspector General” – “not the IRS,” control this Al-powered warrantless surveillance system compelled the Judiciary Committee and Select Subcommittee to believe the IRS is working with other federal agencies to conduct Al-powered warrantless financial surveillance. Jordan found the allegations from OMG’s footage particularly concerning “given the IRS’ track record of targeting, harassing, and intimidating American taxpayers and journalists and history of ignoring due process requirements when investigating taxpayers.” Such concerns can only grow as the powers and pervasiveness of AI increase, and the IRS continues to receive its allotted $80 billion in funding and to increase its stockpile of guns and ammunition. (A report published by the Government Accountability Office stated at the end of 2017 – over 6 years ago, the IRS had 4,487 guns and 5,062,006 rounds of ammunition in its weapons inventory.)
It is clear this Congressional investigation into the violation of Constitutional rights by one of the most powerful government institutions would not have been initiated without the relentless reporting of James O’Keefe and O’Keefe Media Group. OMG’s reporting on the IRS’ use of AI could not have come soon enough.
