The Internal Revenue Service opened a criminal investigation into the Clinton Foundation and was working with two credible whistleblowers — but then abruptly stopped and ended months of work in 2019, according to internal IRS memos, emails, and meeting notes obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests.
John Moynihan, a retired Drug Enforcement Agency financial crimes analyst, and Larry Doyle, a corporate tax compliance expert, had submitted 6,000 pages of evidence to the IRS and FBI in 2017 alleging the Clinton Foundation mishandled funds, mingled personal and charitable finances, and possibly engaged in quid pro quo arrangements.
Then, in 2019 that work suddenly came to a screeching halt without explanation.
“Can’t talk about the CF,” one IRS agent said, suddenly cutting off communication with the two whistleblowers who had been working with the agency for months, according to documents reviewed by Just The News.
Between January and April 2019, the whistleblowers met repeatedly with IRS criminal investigators, presenting detailed evidence including thumb drives with thousands of pages of documents, charts mapping financial networks, and lists of 55 potential witnesses.
By July 2019, all investigative activity had ceased.
“The investigation clearly demonstrates that the foundation was not a charitable organization per se, but in point to fact, was a closely held family partnership,” Doyle told Congress in 2018.
The whistleblowers are currently pursuing two cases in U.S. Tax Court, arguing they were wrongly denied financial rewards for identifying alleged tax irregularities at the Clinton Foundation. One case is scheduled for trial on December 1. The current Trump administration IRS has submitted a motion to dismiss the cases.
“In this case, the Whistleblower Office denied petitioners’ claims because the petitioners’ claims were never considered in an IRS action,” the IRS motion states. “Following the classifiers’ preliminary review, the Classifier declined to forward petitioners’ claims to exam and recommended that it be forwarded to the CI [criminal investigation] division.”
Internal IRS emails show there was initially a serious interest in the allegations against the Clinton Foundation. Meeting notes by Doyle and Moynihan indicate that the IRS immediately wanted to formalize a relationship with them as “Informants / Whistleblowers” or as “Cooperating Witnesses / Whistleblowers,” which offers legal protection.
An IRS “memorandum of interview” detailed the whistleblowers’ findings after their January 22, 2019 meeting with IRS supervisory special agent Carlo Nastasi and IRS special agent Paul Bataille.
The memo stated —
Moynihan was working in Louisville when he was told to look at the Clinton Foundation. The Clinton Foundation and Clinton Health Access Initiative collected approximately $2.8 billion and have over $400 million in net assets. The Clinton Foundation’s net assets are $362 million and CHAI has $62 million.
…
Moynihan and Doyle analyzed the Form 990s, legally obtained emails involving the Clinton Foundation, and other documents from their FOIA requests. They found numerous problems with the Clinton Foundation. The foundation was not operating for its intended purpose of building the library. Personal expenses such as travel were paid out of the Clinton Foundation. The Clinton Foundation was operating as a foreign agent.
…
The Clinton Foundation continued to collect money and operate after the library was turned over to the National Archives. The foundation was never issued a letter to change the purpose of the foundation, although the foundation began getting involved in health care issues. Bill Gates, a donor to the Clinton Foundation, was aware of this and was very troubled by it.
During the investigation, the whistleblowers presented their “whiteboard chart” detailing alleged financial links between the Clinton Foundation and numerous organizations. When shown the chart, an IRS agent reportedly asked, “Can I take a photo of that?”
IRS Special Agent in Charge John Tafur reviewed the whistleblowers’ documents during a February 26, 2019 meeting and stated, “Well, this means the entire enterprise is a fraud.”
The whistleblowers officially signed up as “Cooperating Informants/Witnesses” on March 7, 2019, and provided IRS agents with thumb drives containing 98 exhibits totaling approximately 6,300 pages of evidence.
Internal emails show the investigation involved multiple IRS field offices and U.S. Attorney offices in Texas. One email from the Dallas Field Office requested coordination with federal prosecutors.
“In regards to our conversation yesterday, do you mind participating in a call with the AUSAs in Texas?”
But suddenly in the spring of 2019, IRS agents reversed course.
According to meeting notes, agents began telling the whistleblowers “we can’t talk about the CF” and claimed that “without our walking in with a current cooperating witness then they could not and would not move forward with an investigation.”
Nastasi reportedly told the whistleblowers that “the IRS really is not in a position to pursue charitable organizations that engage in purposes and activities beyond their approved authority” and that “the IRS is not capable or staffed to oversee this activity.”
The whistleblowers contend that “there is absolutely no doubt that somebody up the chain of command blocked this pursuit.”
“There is probable cause that the Clinton Foundation has run afoul of IRS rules regarding tax-exempt charitable organizations and has acted inconsistently with its stated purpose,” the whistleblowers alleged in their 2017 submission. “The Foundation should be investigated for all of the above-mentioned improprieties.”
Moynihan testified before the Republican-led House Oversight Committee in December 2018 that the Clinton Foundation “began acting as an agent of foreign governments early in its life and throughout its existence” and should have registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
“Ultimately, the foundation and its auditors conceded in formal submissions that it did operate as a [foreign] agent, therefore the foundation is not entitled to its 501c3 tax-exempt privileges,” Moynihan testified at the time.
The Clinton Foundation has long denied wrongdoing and maintained its charitable status. During her failed 2016 presidential campaign, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton defended the foundation’s operations.
“At the Clinton Foundation, spend 90% of all the money that is donated on behalf of programs of people around the world and in our own country,” Clinton said during a debate with President Trump in 2016.
“Unfortunately, we find ourselves in Tax Court fighting the Whistleblower Office again,” the whistleblower’s lawyer told Just the News. “This time, we know for a fact that an investigation was started into the claims because it was done before the claims were filed.”
“We are beyond frustrated.”