Posted on 01/04/2008 5:06:16 AM PST by Man50D
A lawyer who was acquitted by a federal court trial jury of Internal Revenue Service accusations he failed to filed income tax returns for two years now is suing several IRS agents over their alleged improper disclosure of his personal information in the case.
A spokeswoman in the office of lawyer Tom Cryer told WND the case was assembled and filed by Cryer between Christmas Day and the end of 2007 and is expected to be placed on the docket in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.
Last summer in federal court a jury voted 12-0 to find Cryer, of Shreveport, not guilty of the IRS allegations. He had been indicted on 2006 on government claims he failed to pay $73,000 to the IRS in 2000 and 2001.
His successful defense was based on a challenge to the IRS to prove a constitutional foundation for the nation's income tax.
Now his claim against the government's agents, according to a report in the Shreveport Times, explains four IRS criminal investigation division workers tried to destroy his reputation during the course of their investigation in the case.
The lawsuit alleges IRS agents Jimmy H. Sandefur, Darrin A. Heusel and Judge Armand, and a trainee, Patrick Potter "entered into a smear and fear campaign to destroy Plaintiff's good reputation and law practice."
Cryer alleges the federal workers repeatedly violated federal laws that restrict the disclosure of tax information, release of information about an investigation and publicizing information about a grand jury investigation.
The report said Cryer's lawsuit alleges the agents continually raised those issues in telephone calls, during personal visits and in letters exchanged with Cryer's clients during their investigation.
The action seeks $1,000 in damages for each incident in which a federal agent compromised Cryer's confidential information.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
Fair Tax ping!
>His successful defense was based on a challenge to the IRS to prove a constitutional foundation for the nation’s income tax.<
Color me skeptical.....
Then we'll talk about a new revenue source.
> “Color me skeptical.....”
Me too. I have asked on earlier threads of a link to the court case so I could read the specifics for myself. No one has come up with that. I would like to know what the specifics of this case were. The devil is in the details.
> “after being on the receiving end of the IRS brown shirt tactics, I am rooting for him.”
So am I, but I want to decide for myself what has happened and how it relates to me.
Gee! a lawyer I could actually begin to like.
I’d like to see how anyone can square
“under penalty of perjury, I swear that the above [personal, private financial information] is complete and accurate”
with
“right to be secure in their persons and papers”
Best regards,
“The jury verdict to acquit sends a strong signal people are ready for a fundamental change of our oppressive tax code.”
Have you seen the video of the woman juror who was on the Cryer case? It’s very interesting and explains why the jury voted the way they did.
He was being investigated for criminal charges and for encouraging others to behave in a criminal fashion - talking to his clients seems a reasonable way for that investigation to proceed.
All of his claims about not owing income tax were rejected - he just convinced a jury he had no intent to commit a crime by not filing since he honestly believed his theory about his trust being legal.
So basically I think this suit is one more crazy stunt by people who put their energy into pretending income tax doesn’t exist instead of trying to reform the system.
No, it doesn't.
It signals that the jury was dumb enough to believe Cryer's idiotic (he's a lawyer) "I really, really didn't know I had to file" baloney, since his was a "Cheek" defense against willfulness.
Cryer's problem is that he's now on notice that he has to file. The "Cheek" defense only works once (sometimes.) His current goofy lawsuit will fail in its entirety, IRS agents are permitted to disclose information that is necessary to further their investigations.
Cryer is probably on his way to being disbarred, but is no doubt a hero to the TP-types here. With any luck, he will soon join Schiff, Meredith, Simkanin and the rest of the TP losers in federal prison.
And, no, I don't work for the IRS. I think the tax system needs radical change, but in the meantime the law is the law.
Federal revenues would drop by 90%. Do you really think this is what Congress intended? Do you really think this is what the law ever was, is, or meant to be?
Definitely. The federal government is now easily 10x the size it was when the 16th Amendment was passed, even allowing for inflation. I doubt many back then thought the government would get this big.
If Congress found out tomorrow, "hey, there is no income tax and 90% of our revenue is going to disappear," wouldn't both Republicans and Democrats immediately do something to put things back the way it is meant to be?
He's right, but it needs rewording. With the tax situation fixed, the Republicrats would lose power and control over the people, loose the pork that keeps them in office, and scramble to re-break things to their benefit.
And, just so it’s not forgotten, people who beat criminal charges using a “Cheek” defense (I really, really didn’t think I had to file a return) still owe every single penny of tax, penalty and interest.
Just ask Cryer, Kuglin and Long, the only 3 people I can recall who asserted that they were really that stupid and won their criminal case.
Kuglin’s wages are being garnished to this day to pay her liability. Like I said, “Cheek” only works once and it only has the possibility of keeping you out of prison. You still have to pay the tax, penalty and interest and your criminal lawyer.
A few years back, I read a story of a man who fought for years to halt the IRS’s actions against him. They froze his bank account, garnished his wages, put his possessions up for sale....the whole works. The IRS alleged he owed over 200k in back taxes, penalties and such.
The story went on to say, the man became so oppressed and helpless....barely any resources to continue the fight to clear his name....he committed suicide.
A few months later...the IRS admitted, his tax and penalty burden amounted to just over 20k rather than 200k.
Talk about sad. Of coarse, he should not have killed himself, but there are people out there that cannot psychologically hold up to such pressures.
Why on earth would anyone hold fast to a tax code that enables such heavy handed tactics toward it’s own citizens is beyond me.
Hell, instead of fighting to change the system, Lets fight to change this madness and work toward honing the system as we move forward.
Anything is better than what we have in the present tax code.
Cry me a river.
I regularly pay taxes I don’t owe because I am terrified of getting the IRS down on me.When I get a letter from the IRS saying I owe a certain amount I pay up. Challenging them only exposes you to the possibility that they will “come after you”. They have all the resources of the federal government and you have only a lawyer who expects you to pay up at regular intervals. Over paying my taxes is just part of the cost of doing business. No other government agency has the power to force you to prove your innocence. The IRS is the epitome of tyranny.
Got a link?
I'm skeptical of apocryphal stories. No doubt there have been people who are dumb enough not to retain tax counsel, but their experience is hardly worth even noting, never mind taking into account when debating what a tax system should look like.
Anything is better than what we have in the present tax code
Not necessarily.
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