IRS Ethics Chief Once Ordered Records Illegally Destroyed

The new head of the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) ethics office once oversaw the illegal shredding of documents sought by the federal tax agency’s inspector general (IG), and allegedly retaliated on the colleague he believed snitched on him about it.

Stephen Whitlock was named director of the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) in August 2015. The OPR supports “effective tax administration by ensuring all tax practitioners, tax-preparers, and other third parties in the tax system adhere to professional standards and follow the law,” according to the agency’s web site.

Whitlock’s chief of operations was, until recently, a former tax enforcement agent who attempted to avoid government payments by declaring bankruptcy and who even lost his official sidearm in a bar fight.

Additionally, in this newly-appointed 7-person leadership team are two of Lois Lerner’s former top deputies, at least one of whom was involved in the targeting of conservative and Tea Party non-profit applicants. Records of those activities also mysteriously disappeared after Congress began investigations in 2013.

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