Ron Paul Liberty Report - Weekly Report  It Didn’t Start with Trump
Aired: 2025-10-22
Duration: 04:33


=== IRS Audits and Political Punishment (02:30) ===

[00:00:01]  Hello, everybody, and thank you for tuning in to the weekly report.
[00:00:06]  It didn't start with Trump.
[00:00:09]  What do you expect when you sue the president?
[00:00:13]  Hearing that comment, some people may guess the comment was made by someone addressing one of President Trump's political opponents who has been targeted for federal prosecution.
[00:00:25]  That quote, though, is much older.
[00:00:28]  It is from an IRS agent addressing officials at a conservative organization that was being audited during Bill Clinton's presidency.
[00:00:38]  This illustrates that the use of federal agencies to punish presidents' enemies did not start with President Trump.
[00:00:48]  The administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt used tax investigations against political opponents.
[00:00:57]  Targeted individuals included publishers of newspapers that were highly critical of Roosevelt's domestic and foreign policies.
[00:01:08]  President John F. Kennedy used the IRS and the Federal Communications Commission to drive his conservative critics off the radio.
[00:01:19]  President Lyndon Johnson also used the IRS and the FCC to silence conservative critics.
[00:01:28]  One tool that was used to silence conservatives was to accuse broadcasters of violating the fairness doctrine by favoring conservative commentators.
[00:01:40]  President Richard Nixon used the IRS to target political enemies.
[00:01:44]  The Nixon administration also threatened television and radio companies with revocation of their broadcast licenses unless they provided favorable coverage of the administration.
[00:01:57]  During the Clinton administration, the IRS not only targeted conservative and libertarian organizations, it audited Paula Jones after she sued President Clinton for sexual harassment.
[00:02:11]  During the George W. Bush years, the IRS targeted organizations critical of the Iraq war.
[00:02:18]  When Barack Obama assumed the presidency, the tax agency turned its attention back to conservative and libertarian groups with a focus on organizations associated with the Tea Party.

=== Government Power Abuses (02:01) ===

[00:02:31]  The Department of Homeland Security also issued a warning that those with pro-liberty bumper stickers, including supporting the Libertarian Party or my presidential campaign, might be violent extremists.
[00:02:47]  During the Biden administration, many Americans received harsh sentences for being present at the Capitol on January 6th, even if they did not commit any violent act.
[00:03:00]  Federal agencies can also target presidents' political enemies without a presidential order to do so being issued.
[00:03:10]  Some ambitious and unscrupulous individuals will target a president's enemies, believing that this is an effective way to curry favor with the president or high-level administration officials.
[00:03:24]  Others will use the power of the government against the president's political enemies or those involved with political movements seeking to change the direction of the government out of a belief that these people or groups constitute a threat to the federal government that justifies violating constitutional rights.
[00:03:48]  This history suggests that abuse of power is an inevitable feature of the modern welfare warfare regulatory state.
[00:03:57]  Therefore, instead of focusing just on electing the right president, we should focus on shrinking the size and scope of the federal government to its constitutional limitations.
[00:04:11]  This will ensure that Americans can exercise their right to criticize the government without fear of reprisal.
[00:04:19]  As Thomas Jefferson said, In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.