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IRS SENIOR EMPLOYEE MISCONDUCT PROBLEMS
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Hearings before the Commerce, Consumer, and Monetary
Affairs Subcommittee of the Committee on Government
Operations, House of Representatives, One Hundred First
Congress, First Session, July 25, 26, and 27, 1989.
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Washington : U.S. G.P.O. : For sale by the Supt. of Docs.,
Congressional Sales Office, U.S. G.P.O., 1989.
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GOV DOC # Y 4.G 74/7:Em 7/11.
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A reproduction of the following letter can be found on pages 564 and 565.

 

                       DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
                        INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE
                         WASHINGTON, D.C. 20224

                              MAY 24, 1989
  

  The Honorable Bill Alexander
  U.S. House of Representatives
  Room 233 Cannon House Office Building
  Washington, D.C.  20515

  Dear Mr. Alexander:

     In your May 9, 1989 meeting with Gayle Morin and Mary Anne
  Curtin, you expressed your contlnued interest in interviewing
  Special Agent William Duncan about information of which he may be
  aware which may be germane to an investigation by you,
  Congressman Hughes, Senator John Kerry, and the GAO. You
  characterize your inquiry as focusing on the use of an airport in
  Mena, Arkansas, as a staging area for the transport of arms to,
  and drugs from, Central America. Let me assure you the Service
  intends to fully cooperate with Congress' inquiries into this
  matter and will make Special Agent Duncan available to be
  interviewed to the extent legally permitted.

     As the Service previously indicated, three statutory
  provisions will operate, to varying degrees, to establish the
  legal parameters for any interviews of Special Agent Duncan: the
  Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. ¤ 552a); grand jury secrecy law (Fed. R.
  Crim. P. 6(e)); and tax return confidentiality provisions of the
  Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. ¤ 6103). I am hopeful that we
  will be able to work together to assure compliance with these
  provisions, thus facilitating the interview of Special Agent
  Duncan.

     Although the Privacy Act provides that information in agency
  records retrievable by name or personal identifier are
  confidential, subsection (b)(9) permits disclosure of otherwise
  protected information to a congressional committee or
  subcommittee upon request. To the extent your inquiry is
  proceeding under committee's or subcommittee's auspices,
  subsection (b)(9) would permit disclosure. Upon written request
  from a congressional committee or subcommittee, we will be happy
  to arrange for Special Agent Duncan's interview, limited only by
  grand jury or tax return confidentiality provisions.

     As I indicated in my March 13, 1989 letter to you, Special
  Agent Duncan was previously interviewed by the Subcommittee on
  Crime of the House Judiciary Committee. At the time of that
  interview, the Service was informed that the United States
  Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas was engaged in a
  criminal investigation bearing on matters potentially covered by
  the Subcommittee's inquiry. He was, therefore, consulted prior
  to Special Agent Duncan's interview to determine the effect of
  grand jury secrecy law on the interview. We have again conferred
  with the United States Attorney and are currently in the process
  of coordinating the grand jury secrecy law questions with the
  Office of the Assistant Attorney General (Criminal Division),
  Department of Justice. We have informed the Department of the
  need to expedite this matter and will make Special Agent Duncan
  available for an interview. He will, however, be subject to the
  Department's guidance concerning grand jury secrecy law.

     To the very limited extent Special Agent Duncan has
  responsive information that may constitute tax returns and return
  information, as those terms are defined in section 6103 of the
  Internal Revenue Code, congressional access to such information
  is qoverned by section 6103(f).

     Thank you for your patience. I am confident we will be able
  to resolve this matter to our mutual satisfaction in the very
  near future.

     With best wishes,

                              Sincerely,
                             
                              M I C H A E L  J . M U R P H Y

                              MICHAEL J. MURPHY
                              Acting Commissioner