Free Republic

Tax protester Robert Beale has left tantalizing clues about his whereabouts in the 10 weeks since he failed to show up for his trial, prompting a federal manhunt for the North Oaks CEO who owes Uncle Sam $1.6 million. Since disappearing in August, Beale, 63, has filed a court document asserting his innocence, sent e-mails to friends and relatives and hid out in a mobile home in western Wisconsin, barely escaping a raid by law enforcement agencies. A few federal income tax critics, some of whom belong to a tax protest group that meets monthly in Maplewood, have rallied to...

In the past two weeks, the millionaire CEO of a Maple Grove computer products company has been working overtime to keep himself from the clutches of federal authorities. Robert B. Beale, who the IRS says owes $1.6 million in federal taxes plus interest and penalties, has written to President Bush and U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales requesting that charges against him be dismissed. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison. "He fundamentally believes, and has stuck to his belief since this case started, that the federal income tax is illegal,"