Former Rep. Billy Long (R-MO), President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), was invited to attend Trump’s inauguration as the guest of a financial services CEO who said Long promised him benefits for his company, according to a recording obtained by the Lever.
The executive also stated that Long planned to give a top government job to a campaign donor at an embattled financial firm. Companies peddling tax schemes “don’t have to worry” about regulatory crackdowns under Long’s oversight, added the executive.
In a corporate Zoom recording provided to the Lever by Sen. Ron Wyden’s (D-OR) office, Terry Kennedy, CEO of financial services company Appreciation Financial, noted he helped Long attend Trump’s inauguration.
“I call up one of my friends and I said, ‘Hey, the IRS Commissioner Billy Long, the new one coming in that we’re all excited about. . . Is Billy coming to the inauguration?’” Kennedy said. “And. . . my friend says, ‘Well, he doesn’t have a ticket. He’s not because he’s not confirmed yet.’ I said, ‘Well, make him my guest.’”
Kennedy went on to note that he and Long “had dinner one night” during the inauguration and that he “spent a few nights with [Long].”
During that same call, Kennedy addressed Employee Retention Tax Credits (ERC), a pandemic-era program that the IRS says has been the target of the agency’s “civil and criminal investigations of potential fraud and abuse.” Kennedy asserted that companies would no longer have to worry about such IRS scrutiny because Long sold such products himself.
“He actually pushed ERC; is that not a blessing?” said Kennedy. “We could be worried about promoter audits now. We could be worried about anything with the old administration. But Billy actually is now taking over, and we don’t have to worry about that stuff.”
Promoter audits…
Auteur: Freddy Brewster
