“They’ll call you a terrorist and ruin your life”: Dems sound alarm over Trump’s IRS weaponization

Democrats in Congress are blasting the recent revelation that President Donald Trump will push the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to investigate left-leaning groups and political opponents, calling it a blatant weaponization of a government agency. “Donald Trump believes he’s a king, and he’s determined to wield every agency under his control as a weapon to crush political opposition and silence free speech,” Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement shared with Salon on Thursday. “The Trump administration will try to legitimize this abuse with legal opinions and procedural lingo, but the implicit threat is that if you give to a progressive cause, they’ll deem you a terrorist and ruin your life.” According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the Trump administration is preparing to overhaul the way the IRS investigates crimes, paving the way for more probes into groups and individuals who do not align politically with the president. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent‘s adviser, Gary Shapley, would reportedly become the director of the IRS’s criminal investigative division. Bessent, as acting IRS commissioner, has already been directed by Trump to compile financial records for left-leaning political organizations. Start your day with essential news from Salon. Sign up for our free morning newsletter, Crash Course. Vice Chairman of the Senate Intel Committee, Mark Warner, D-Va., called the development “absurd and dangerous” in a post on X. “As if Trump’s weaponization of the justice system hadn’t gone far enough, now he’s weaponizing the IRS against his perceived enemies,” Warner said. “It’s a clear and authoritarian attempt to silence critics.” Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Calif., said the nation should be “concerned” about Trump’s use of the IRS in a social media post. “Trump is illegally going after his political enemies with the IRS, the very kind of abuse of power that destroys democracies from within,” Gomez said.
https://www.salon.com/2025/10/16/theyll-call-you-a-terrorist-and-ruin-your-life-dems-sound-alarm-over-trumps-irs-weaponization/