Yes, this was the basis for my assumption:
“At least two congressmen on the Ways and Means committee have taken up the case, writing letters to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew saying they believe Sowers should get his money back.”
If there is a legal way to appeal a tax settlement then he has a right to that and you are just carping for the sake of carping.
If this request is illegal then the IRS should say so.
However where duress is involved then the moral picture does change.
That still does not mean that the law ought not to be repealed... and with restitution provisions.