Senior IRS Official Fired After Public Anti-Trump Rant

Niki Wilkinson, a high-ranking official with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), has been fired after a number of her anti-Trump and anti-GOP screeds on LinkedIn were reported on by the Daily Caller.

Wilkinson accused President Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers of “fear mongering” and “falsely describing” the conduct of former IRS official Holly Paz, who has long been accused of playing a significant role in the Obama Administration’s IRS targeting scandal. The agency was found to have subjected conservative individuals and organizations to audits without merit under the direction of senior Obama officials.

Paz, who served as deputy to Lois Lerner during the height of the scandal, was placed on leave by the Trump administration after Republican members of Congress alleged she abused pass-through business to target right-leaning business owners.

According to the Daily Caller, Wilkinson extensively defended Paz and accused Republicans of misrepresenting the case. “Such a farce! Interesting how Senators outside the IRS are fear mongering and falsely describing the work. They have no idea what Examiners found in those audits, which in fact exposed fraud or noncompliance in the passthrough area as for years the IRS didn’t effectively audit them,” Wilkinson wrote in a LinkedIn comment.

Wilkinson railed against the Trump Administration in multiple LinkedIn posts
Photo: The Daily Caller

The comment was not a one-off, as the IRS official frequently took to LinkedIn to voice her disapproval with her boss and senior members of his administration. As recently as this week, Wilkinson accused the president and high-ranking cabinet members of corruption and echoed left-wing attacks on the administration.

While Wilkinson acknowledged that she could not speak directly for the IRS, she did attempt to defend her comments while speaking with the Daily Caller. She argued that a number of Trump’s statements and initiatives — including issuing pardons and weighing in on congressional redistricting — could constitute corrupt conduct.

“Defending the IRS pass-through unit, she noted that it audits Democrats as well and dismissed claims that Paz personally oversees the audits, emphasizing that she is several layers removed from the examiners,” the Caller reported.

She further provided the outlet with an organizational chart to illustrate “the various layers” of the chain of command that, according to her, would fall directly under Paz at the IRS.