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Op-Ed: Justice Department Attack on Roger Stone Over Unpaid Taxes Is Another Political Persecution

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While the DOJ let’s actual tax cheats like Al Sharpton skip on $8 million in unpaid taxes, the Biden DOJ is targeting Roger Stone despite his efforts to settle his outstanding tax bill. 

Roger Stone arriving at court with his wife Nydia in July, 2020. Photo credit: Reuters news organization.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL – As a member of the Forbes Council and a renowned tax expert, I know how people try to cheat the IRS, and more importantly, how to negotiate a deal with the IRS in order to repay back taxes or unpaid balances from previous years. 

Even the best of us may miss deductions. Our tax code, the most complex in the world, constantly changes and the IRS is known for moving the goalpost. However, when it comes to negotiating payment plans or repayment of taxes that you might not have known you were required to pay, everything is in writing and a typical bureaucratic process tracked at every step. 

Roger Stone, a longtime advisor to President Donald Trump and regular thorn in the side of the political establishment on both sides of the aisle, had a clear-cut agreement with the IRS to pay his back taxes. But when the politically motivated witch-hunt known as the “Muller Investigation” set their sights on Stone, he had to decide between paying the taxman or attempting to fund a legal effort that would ensure him the fairest trial he could expect in a courtroom run by an Obama-appointed judge and all Democrat DC jury. 

“Force majeure” is a term used to describe an unforeseeable circumstance that prevents one party from fulfilling the terms of an agreed upon contract. For example, if you owed back taxes to the IRS and suddenly fell ill, this would be a force majeure event where you notify the IRS that you would have to focus your limited resources on surviving a deadly medical event, allowing you the chance to fight for your life in hopes of escaping a dirt nap and staying above ground, which would presumably allow you to return to a circumstance where you could continue paying down your balance for the IRS. 

In Stone’s case, his “force majeure” was an unforeseen political persecution that drained his life savings and made it near impossible to derive income for basic life expenses, let alone a hefty monthly payment plan with the IRS. Stone notified the IRS of his inability to continue the agreed upon monthly payments. In almost any other scenario like this, the IRS would work with the debtor and give them a reasonable amount of time to negotiate new terms. Mr. Stone attempted to do this and was in active contact with the IRS before the Biden DOJ announced they were suing him for the remaining amount owed, even going as far as seeking approval from a judge to confiscate his place of residence as a down payment. 

This is an obvious attempt to continue the state sponsored financial and reputational ruin of a high-profile Trump supporter like Stone, who was pardoned by Trump late last year and is attempting to get back on his feet and meet all outstanding obligations to the IRS. The government uses their power to attack you with lawfare and then leaks to the media who acts as an accomplice to apply the maximum amount of pressure possible to reach their desired goal. This is not what we should expect or deserve as Americans, it’s Stalin-esque and simply not American.

So, what about high-profile Democrats who supported Biden over the years and in 2020? Al Sharpton for example owes nearly four times as much to the IRS, a whopping $8 million according to news reports? Is Sharpton being sued by the DOJ and being accused of living a lavish lifestyle while defaulting on his payment plan?

No. Sharpton, who earns millions a year and was seen flying a swanky private jet to the verdict of Derek Chauvin in the George Floyd trial earlier this month, continues to flaunt the IRS. The DOJ remains silent, unwilling or interested in taking similar action against Sharpton, well… because it is not politically expedient in this current climate to challenge a race pimp BLM Chieftain like Sharpton. 

Taxes should not be political. You earn what you earn and owe what you owe. However, in 2021 the mob demands a complete cancellation and proverbial blitzkrieg against Trump supporters on all ends. 

First it was the media and the Democrats. Then Hollywood and mob justice from Black Lives Matter and Antifa. Now, the IRS and DOJ are getting in on the action. 

An unequal application of the law in one instance, is an affront to justice and fairness in every instance. 

The DOJ should be ashamed of themselves. 

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