The US tax authority has sparked an uproar after posting a job offer warning that new agents must be prepared to wield “deadly force” against suspects, amid heightened concerns about heavy-handed tactics by the IRS as it seeks to hire thousands of new enforcers. 

An IRS job form seeking ‘Criminal Investigation Special Agents’ was briefly taken offline and edited on Wednesday after its language stoked outrage on social media, according to Fox News and other outlets. Though a previous version of the page (archivedAugust 10) noted that “major duties” of the job would include carrying a firearm and being “willing to use deadly force, if necessary,” the listing visible on Thursday evening no longer contains that requirement.

Journalist Ford Fischer was among the first to note the mention of ‘deadly force’ in a series of tweets on Wednesday. Less than 24 hours later the agency had taken down the notice, removed the offending bullet-point and reuploaded it.

“The IRS Criminal Investigation special agent job announcement continues to be open on USAJobs and has not [been]/was not taken down,” an IRS spokesperson told Fox Business, but offered no explanation for the apparent edit.

Republicans and conservative critics of US President Joe Biden have sounded the alarm in recent days about growing IRS authority, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) alleging that Democrats are looking to build an “army” of federal tax officers through a provision in the yet-to-be-signed Inflation Reduction Act.

“Do you make $75,000 or less?” he asked in a tweet, adding “Democrats’ new army of 87,000 IRS agents will be coming for you – with 710,000 new audits for Americans who earn less than $75k.” 

Libertarian-leaning Republican Thomas Massie (Kentucky) noted the controversial job listing in a social media post, also claiming the IRS is seeking to add “tens of thousands” of agents to its ranks and warning that they would be exempt from a Democrat-led push to ban AR-15 rifles.

READ MORE:

https://www.rt.com/news/560682-irs-agents-deadly-force/

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW...................