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Treasury inspectors are internal communications reviewed by the ProPublica Show, investigating President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s government efficiency efforts, obtaining private taxpayer data and other sensitive information.
The Department of Finance Inspector’s Office for Tax Management seeks a wide range of information from IRS employees. In particular, the office is seeking requests for taxpayer data from the President, the President’s Office of Enforcement, DOGE, or the Presidential Office.
The request, spelled out in a mid-April email obtained by Propublica, comes as Watchdogs and leading Democrats question whether Doge has crossed its boundaries in search of information about taxpayers, civil servants, or usually very restricted federal agencies.
The review appears to be in the early stages – one document describes staff as “starting their previous race”, but the email tells the IRS to take over certain documents by Thursday, April 24th. It is not clear if that happened or not.
The inspector, for example, asks for all requests for taxpayer or other protected information, or any other protected information from the President, OMB, or the President or the Executive Office of DOGE. Include information regarding how the requester uses the requested information, the IRS’ response to the request, and the legal basis for the IRS’ response.
The investigation also seeks information on requests for access to the IRS system from all agencies in the administrative sector, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Social Security Administration, and DOGE.
The financial inspector at the Tax Management Office, known as Tiguta, is led by Attorney General Heather M. Hill. When Trump fired 17 inspectors in various federal agencies in January, none of the people working for the Treasury were among those who were x.
The White House, Doge, Omboo and Musk did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
Previously, the administration said, “The people leading this mission at Elon Musk do so as employees of federal law, appropriate security clearance, and related agencies, not as external advisors or entities, but as employees of related agencies.”
Tiguta spokesman Becky Dunbrosio said the agency “has not disclosed specific details of ongoing work or timelines.” She said the office received multiple requests from the council. “Whereever possible, these requests are incorporated into the ongoing work to provide independent oversight of IRS activities.”
The April 15 request was followed by concerns within the IRS that Doge employees had inappropriate access to taxpayer information or shared it with other government agencies under Musk’s direction, and several people familiar with the issue spoken anonymously for fear of retaliation.
Earlier this month, a group of Democrats urged financial inspectors to investigate whether the Trump administration “violates strict taxpayer privacy laws” by widespread access to Doge officials within the agency.
“The taxpayer data held by the IRS is by design subject to some of the strongest privacy protections under federal law, and violations of which could result in civil and criminal sanctions,” the lawmaker wrote on the request.
In March, three senators said they were plagued by reports that the IRS had concluded a shared agreement to help the Department of Homeland Security “find undocumented immigration allegations.” Trump has pledged a massive deportation.
A spokesman for Senator Ron Wyden, one of the signers of both requests, declined to comment. DHS introduced Propublica’s request for comment to the Ministry of Finance, but did not respond.
General examinations of inspectors take place amid major upheavals in the Treasury and the IRS. The administration fires thousands of institutional workers, and Doge digs into the IRS database. Melanie Kraus resigned as representative of the IRS after the agency reached an agreement that the agency would share taxpayer data with the DHS.
A former Tigta official told Propublica that if reviewers find evidence of violation of the law, the review could lead to a criminal investigation. The same source said those leading the review could face political consequences, as well as scores from prosecutors, FBI agents, law firms and others who questioned Trump’s actions.
Earlier this month, an inspector’s email from an inspector to IRS employees asked them to provide a copy of the written contract to share taxpayer data with entities such as the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Social Security, DOGE, the Department of Personnel Management, or other agencies.
They also ask for a complete list of non-IRS employees who are part of Doge or its affiliates. This year, Propublica is profiled the numbers that work for Doge.
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Daniel Citron, a leading privacy law scholar at the University of Virginia, said the email suggests that the email may be investigating violations of privacy laws that require agencies to protect citizen information and share governments across the government only in certain cases. The kind of comprehensive data sharing agreement the Trump administration is asking for from the IRS is “designed to avoid the privacy laws,” she said.
CNN and Wired report that DOGE is attempting to build a master database that combines information from the IRS, DHS, the Social Security Agency and other agencies. The database will be used to enforce immigration, the outlet reported.
This is not the first time the Trump administration’s decision in the IRS has prompted a general investigation into inspectors.
As reported by Propublica, senior IRS lawyers warned in late February that plans to terminate nearly 7,000 probation employees based on poor performance were “fraud” rather than true. The IRS has proceeded with fire, but it is being challenged in federal court.
After the shooting, the IRS inspector general began scrutiny of the end of mass, said someone familiar with the efforts he was not permitted to speak to reporters. The status of the probe is unknown.
