(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Daniel Werfel to explain why an IRS agent made an unnannounced visit to the New Jersey home of journalist Matt Taibbi on the very same day Taibbi was testifying before the House weaponization-of-government committee.
The March 9 hearing involved Taibbi's reporting on the so-called Twitter files, and how Twitter was using its platform as "an instrument of censorship and social control," with the U.S. government apparently "playing a leading role," as Taibbi said in his opening statement to the committee on March 9.
The Wall Street Journal said it obtained a copy of the letter from Rep. Jordan to Yellen and Werfel, which read in part: "In light of the hostile reaction to Mr. Taibbi's reporting among left-wing activists...the IRS's actions could be interpreted as an attempt to intimidate a witness before Congress."
The Wall Street Journal wrote, "We’ve seen the letter, and both the circumstances and timing of the IRS focus on this journalist raise serious questions."
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), a member of the Appropriations Committee, told "Mornings With Maria" on Tuesday that the evidence suggests intimidation by the IRS:
"This seems highly irregular," Hagerty said. "They could have sent a letter, they could have had someone make a phone call, they could have reached out to Matt Taibbi's, you know, CPA to have dealt with this.
"Instead, to send an agent to his home -- again, on the very day that he's to testify -- this reeks of intimidation, and again, we've got to bring this to an end. I think that the hearings are going to bring a lot of clarity to this, a lot of visibility that's needed.
"Again, I'm going to continue to put pressure through the Appropriations Committee on the Treasury to get to the bottom of this, even if it requires withholding their funding."
Appearing earlier on the same program, Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), the vice-chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, told Maria Bartiromo the IRS visit to Taibbi's home -- and the timing of it -- "is really outrageous."
"And this is why Kevin McCarthy created the select committee on the weaponization of the federal government," Hill said.
"We've seen so much of this over the last four years, and it's appalling, and this is why Jim Jordan and James Comer are doing the investigation to get behind this abuse of power by federal agencies, including at the FBI."
Hill said he hears from some constituents who say the weaponization committee is just another "witch hunt."
"Let me tell you, we have whistleblowers all throughout the FBI that tell us we're absolutely on target here of investigating what's happening in our federal agencies, and the censorship issue and investigation of Americans with different points of view. We're going to get to the bottom of it," French vowed.
Taibbi tweeted on Monday that he is withholding comment on the IRS visit to his home "pending an answer to chairman @Jim Jordan’s letter."
According to the Wall Street Journal, the IRS left a note for Taibbi, telling him to call the IRS, which he did. Taibbi reportedly was told that his tax returns for 2018 and 2021 had been rejected.
"The bigger question is when did the IRS start to dispatch agents for surprise house calls?" the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board wrote.
"Typically, when the IRS challenges some part of a tax return, it sends a dunning letter. Or it might seek more information from the taxpayer or tax preparer. If the IRS wants to audit a return, it schedules a meeting at the agent’s office. It doesn’t drop by unannounced..."