As investors, we know that the Internal Revenue Service is a part of our realities. But the IRS doesn’t exactly go into hiding between tax seasons. The IRS can swoop in at any time … audit you or your business, confiscate your property … and punish you via fines and even imprisonment. It’s one thing if you’re a tax evader, or if you are engaging in criminal behavior. But what if you’re just a regular person expressing a political opinion? The idea that you could be thrown in jail for your opinions should be one of the greatest fears of any American. And recently, the IRS confirmed those fears. Government watchdog group Judicial Watch (JW) recently revealed extensive collaboration between the IRS and Department of Justice, and later the FBI to go after several groups with criminal charges. JW obtained the documents via two different Freedom of Information Act lawsuits. According to JW, the IRS has likely violated federal law by illegally sharing some 1.25 million pages of taxpayer information with DOJ. The documents also show that the DOJ wanted IRS officials to provide them with copies of their planned remarks before delivering their testimony to Congress. There’s more to this story than the sad irony of the IRS violating tax law …

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