INTERNACIONAL
Key aide in IRS’ Tea Party targeting controversy put on leave after allegations of new anti-GOP effort
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A former deputy to Lois Lerner — who oversaw the IRS division accused of targeting conservative groups during the Obama years — was placed on leave after lawmakers raised alarms that a new sub-department she was leading was becoming politicized.
In 2013, Lerner was hauled before Congress, where it was revealed her agency had wrongfully scrutinized tax-exempt applications related to the phrases «Tea Party,» «9/12» and «Constitution.» The Treasury’s inspector general later confirmed «inappropriate criteria» was used to target conservative groups and criticized ineffective oversight of systemic bias.
IRS Commissioner of Large Business and International Division Holly Paz – Lerner’s then-deputy – was placed on leave last week as lawmakers drew attention to a subordinate work-unit aimed at auditing pass-through businesses that Biden-era Commissioner Danny Werfel had created and assigned her to lead.
Werfel called the new work-unit a big step in «ensur[ing] the IRS holds the nation’s wealthiest filers accountable,» and Paz called it an «important change» in the IRS structure.
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The exterior of the Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo)
However, by 2025, lawmakers, including Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., warned that the pass-thru-business compliance unit had transformed to be «motivated by ideology rather than principles of sound tax administration.»
«Pass-through entities form the bulk of Main Street businesses across the country. This includes countless family businesses, professional services firms, and real estate ventures that serve as the backbone of our local economies,» Blackburn and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., wrote to the Treasury in May.
Around that time, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa., warned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that Paz’s team «has made tongue-in-cheek political comments,» including their stated wish to «make basis great again» – a phrase regarding taxation loss/gain that hearkens to President Donald Trump’s MAGA slogan.
In that regard, Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., wrote to IRS Commissioner Billy Long in July that a Biden-era «basis-shifting transaction rule» had «extended the scope» of enforcement.
SENATE DOGE LEADER SEEKS CRACKDOWN ON TAX-DODGING GOVERNMENT WORKERS
Lois Lerner testifies. (AP File)
«American taxpayers and businesses deserve clear and consistent tax rules that allow them to confidently comply with the law,» Smucker wrote, adding he and Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., are seeking to have that rule «reconsidered» for the sake of unburdening «Main Street» businesses.
Chuck Flint, a former top aide to Blackburn and president of the Alliance for IRS Accountability, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that Paz’s past targeting of conservative groups makes her «unfit for government service.»
Flint said her statements to Congress and role as LB&I chief «places a cloud over the IRS.»
«Paz’s Biden-era pass-through unit is now bludgeoning conservative businesses with fines and must be disbanded. Commissioner Long is flexing his muscles on the IRS Deep State and sending a signal to rogue bureaucrats by placing Paz on leave.»
Blackburn warned in her letter to Bessent that an IRS news release referencing targeting «complex arrangements» lacked clear definitions and created the impression that legitimate business structures could be unfairly targeted based on legal structure versus actual tax compliance risk.
«Even more concerning, the announcement explicitly states that the bureaucratic changes were designed primarily to ‘achieve its goal of increased audit rates in this complex area’.»
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Former Rep. Billy Long, R-Mo., President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Internal Revenue Service commissioner. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
«This focus on increasing audits rather than improving compliance suggests an agenda-driven approach to enforcement,» Blackburn said.
In her letter, Ernst warned Bessent that Paz’s team members «have also undermined their appearance of impartiality by comparing legally acceptable transactions to obscene material, saying, ‘It’s one of those ‘You know it when you see it’ – a joking reference to [Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s] attempt to define pornography.
«This team is reportedly acting independently and duplicating existing IRS processes, wasting taxpayer money, and not coordinating with the pre-existing offices,» Ernst said.
«Most concerning of all, the new pass-through auditors even use a new template for requesting taxpayer information they’ve deemed ‘The Art of the IDR,’ (versus ‘The Art of the Deal’) which treats taxpayers as guilty until proven innocent.»
«Unfortunately, the Biden administration picked up right where Ms. Lerner and her team left off. On September 20, 2023, then-Commissioner Daniel Werfel announced, with language that resembled Democrat talking points, the creation of a duplicative new work unit [led by Paz] to specifically audit pass-through businesses and partnerships. The new office subjects these businesses to potentially two separate IRS examinations in the same year.
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«One would think Commissioner Werfel would go to great lengths to avoid hearkening back to previous scandals. Instead, he thumbed his nose at taxpayers by placing Lois Lerner’s deputy— Holly Paz—at the helm,» Ernst wrote.
Lerner was front-and-center during the Obama-era scandal, testifying before Congress as head of the tax-exempt organizations division, as a deluge of reports of targeting right-leaning nonprofits abounded.
During the 2013 investigation by the House Oversight Committee, Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Darrell Issa, R-Calif., demanded Paz answer for «inconsistencies» from a transcribed interview with committee staff involving statements about «intervention» against Tea Party groups.
A 2015 report by then-Senate Finance Committee leaders Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Ronald Wyden, D-Ore., found that in other cases, some liberal terminology was also flagged, including «ACORN,» «progressive» and «medical marijuana.»
«While handled poorly, groups on both sides of the political spectrum were treated the same in their efforts to secure tax-exempt status,» Wyden said at the time, while then-Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, said Democrats should be equally outraged as Republicans.
Fox News Digital reached out to Treasury, the IRS and an email connected to Paz for comment.
joe biden,politics,senate,republicans,white house
INTERNACIONAL
Japón: Hiroshima llama al mundo a abandonar las armas nucleares 80 años después de la bomba atómica que devastó la ciudad
En 1945, Estados Unidos lanzó dos bombas nucleares sobre las ciudades de Hiroshima y Nagasaki el 6 y el 9 de agosto, respectivamente, causando la muerte de más de 200.000 personas. Foto EFE
Un visitante observa una enorme fotografía de Hiroshima devastada por el primer bombardeo atómico del mundo en el Museo Memorial de la Paz de Hiroshima, Japón. Foto EFEJapón,Hiroshima
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A group of six criminal illegal aliens have been arrested by ICE in Houston after having collectively illegally entered the country a staggering 42 times.
The six criminal aliens were finally arrested by ICE in the final days of July after two decades’ worth of illegal reentries and after racking up an equally astounding 48 criminal convictions, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
Criminal convictions among the group include cocaine trafficking, grand theft auto, assault, domestic violence and multiple DWIs. One of the illegals is a documented member of a cartel-connected gang.
According to ICE, one illegal, Oscar Moran Valle, a 43-year-old Mexican national and documented Paisas gang member, illegally entered the U.S. 12 times. He has been convicted of 11 criminal offenses, including three convictions for illegal entry, two for DWI, and one each for drug possession, larceny, giving a false ID to law enforcement, illegal reentry and driving without a license. He was arrested by ICE on July 29.
ICE LODGES DETAINER AGAINST ILLEGAL MIGRANT CHARGED WITH KIDNAPPING, SEXUALLY ASSAULTING NEIGHBOR IN TEXAS
Left to right (top): Alex Salomon Reyes-Chavez, Thanh Van Nguyen, Oscar Moran Valle. Left to right (bottom): Marvin Javier Marquez Celaya, Jose Angel Munoz Saucedo and Angel Bonilla Barahona. (ICE; iStock)
Another, Alex Salomon Reyes-Chavez, a 46-year-old from Honduras, illegally entered the U.S. five times. Reyes-Chavez has been convicted of seven criminal offenses, including two convictions for burglary and heroin possession, as well as convictions for grand theft auto and cocaine trafficking. He was arrested by ICE on July 30.
Another Honduran national, Angel Bonilla Barahona, 38, was arrested by ICE after illegally entering the U.S. seven times and being convicted of seven criminal offenses, including three convictions for assault as well as convictions for resisting arrest, criminal mischief and flight to avoid arrest.
Marvin Javier Marquez Celaya, a 38-year-old criminal alien from Honduras, arrested by ICE July 30. He illegally entered the U.S. five times and has been convicted of eight criminal offenses, including three convictions for burglary, two for cocaine possession, and one each for larceny, domestic violence and illegal reentry.
Thanh Van Nguyen, a 53-year-old from Vietnam, illegally entered the U.S. and has criminal convictions for burglary, larceny, assault and obstructing police and damaging private property.
DHS SCOOPS UP TRANS ILLEGAL ALIEN CHARGED WITH HEINOUS CRIME ON CHILD IN SANCTUARY CITY: ‘WORST OF THE WORST’
ICE made 422 arrests earlier this year in an operation in Houston spanning just one week. (Fox News)
The last of the six, Jose Angel Munoz Saucedo, a 40-year-old from Mexico, illegally entered the U.S. 12 times and has been convicted of eight criminal offenses, including four convictions for DWI, two for illegal entry, and one for fleeing from a police officer.
ICE said the six were arrested by multiagency targeting teams established under the Trump administration to target the «worst of the worst» criminal illegal aliens for removal.
Commenting on the arrests, Gabriel Martinez, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston acting field office director, thanked the administration for making immigration enforcement a priority so that such criminal illegals «will no longer be able to prey on innocent Americans.»
VENEZUELAN SUSPECT ‘SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN IN THE UNITED STATES,’ POLICE CHIEF SAYS AFTER DEADLY SHOOTING
Commenting on the arrests, Gabriel Martinez, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston acting field office director, thanked the Trump administration for making immigration enforcement a priority so that such criminal illegals «will no longer be able to prey on innocent Americans.» (Trump-Vance Transition Team; ICE)
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«For the past 20 years, these six violent criminal aliens have brazenly violated our nation’s immigration and criminal laws, wreaking havoc in our local communities and leaving countless victims in their wake,» said Martinez. «Thanks to the current administration’s focus on securing the border and making immigration enforcement a priority, they have been removed from the local community.»
border security,migrant crime,immigration,houston and galveston,texas,illegal immigrants,donald trump,drugs
INTERNACIONAL
Brother of Israeli hostage urges UN to act after video shows Hamas starving and torturing captives
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Ilay David, the brother of 22-year-old hostage Evyatar David, delivered an emotional plea to the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, calling for urgent international action after a horrific new video showed his emaciated brother being forced to dig his own grave inside a Hamas tunnel.
The Security Council session was requested by Israel and comes as the country stands on the verge of a full annexation of Gaza — a move prompted by the collapse of ceasefire talks and the release of disturbing images of starving hostages.
Evyatar David was abducted from the Nova music festival on Oct. 7, 2024. In the newly received footage, he appears frail — reduced to just 90 pounds — and is seen struggling to speak.
NETANYAHU RESPONDS AFTER ISRAELI HOSTAGE SEEN EMACIATED, DIGGING GRAVE: ‘CRUELTY OF HAMAS HAS NO BOUNDARIES’
Members of the United Nations Security Council listen as Ilay David, brother of hostage Evyatar David, and holds up a photo of his brother in captivity as he speaks during a meeting called by Israel. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Holding up a still from the video, Ilay David described a haunting visual: «As my younger brother, a living skeleton, was forced to speak and dig his grave, the chubby and well-fed hand of a Hamas terrorist entered the frame. Suddenly, Hamas confirmed what we have known for months — the terrorists have plenty of food. The only ones starving in Hamas’ tunnels are the hostages: my brother, Guy, and the [49] others.»
«My mother and I could not bring ourselves to watch it,» he said, speaking remotely via Zoom, «But my father and sister did. And now the images haunt them.»
Citing testimony from former hostages — including Tal Shoham, whose account was first published by Fox News Digital — David said the terrorists remain in nearby rooms while deliberately starving captives as part of a «sick and twisted propaganda campaign.»
«This is a humanitarian crisis — the crisis of the hostages — that is not being discussed here,» he said. «Not in the Security Council, and not in other U.N. forums. The very soul of humanity is being scarred by Hamas’s barbaric actions.»
Protesters rallied near the United Nations, demanding immediate medical care and the release of hostages held by Hamas. (Yoav Ginsburg/Hostages and Missing Families Forum)
TRUMP: HAMAS SURRENDER, HOSTAGE RELEASE IS ‘FASTEST WAY’ TO END GAZA WAR
The meeting of the U.N. Security Council was convened following the release of the latest hostage video. Israel believes that as few as 20 hostages remain alive in Hamas captivity — many in critical condition, with only days left to live.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who attended the session in New York, emphasized ahead of the meeting that while Israel continues to facilitate humanitarian aid into Gaza, Hamas is deliberately starving the hostages.
«Evyatar was forced to dig his own grave. This is satanic,» he said. «These are evil crimes — like those committed by the Nazis and ISIS.»
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar (R) and Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon (L) speak to journalists ahead of a United Nations Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters on August 5, 2025 in New York (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
Sa’ar also warned that recent moves by several nations to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state have emboldened Hamas and undermined negotiations.
«They gave Hamas free gifts and an incentive to continue this war,» he said. «They directly assassinated the hostage deal and ceasefire. These countries prolonged the war.»
Ilay David ended his address with a desperate appeal: «We, the family of Evyatar, refuse to give up hope. We are weeping, we are suffering, but we are also fighting with every fiber of our being. We will not give up until we see him back home — until my mother and father can hug him again.»
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«To the leaders of the world, to every member of this Council, and to the global community: Your silence in the face of this monstrous cruelty is complicity. I urge you — do not let them die. Act now, before it’s too late. Save Evyatar David. Bring my little brother home.»
When asked by reporters at the White House on Tuesday if he had seen the Hamas video of Evyatar David, President Donald Trump said he had, calling it «horrible.»
anti semitism,israel,united nations,terrorism,conflicts
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