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House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is opening an investigation into how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) uses artificial intelligence to spy on Americans.
Fox News reported that House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., are taking on the IRS together. Jordan penned a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Attorney General Merrick Garland in response to an IRS statement claiming they were using AI technology.
Fox News shared the following statement: “AI will help IRS compliance teams better detect tax cheating, identify emerging compliance threats, and improve case selection tools to avoid burdening taxpayers with needless ‘no-change’ audits.”
In the letter shared to the public via a press release, Jordan wrote, “The Committee on the Judiciary and the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government are conducting oversight of the federal government’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to surveil American citizens’ financial information.”
Jordan requests Yellen’s full cooperation and explains why he is opening an investigation into the IRS. He wrote, “The Committee and Select Subcommittee have reason to believe that the IRS is working with other federal agencies to conduct this AI-powered warrantless financial surveillance.”
In his letter, Jordan reveals that the Committee has seen video footage of Alex Mena, an IRS official working in the agency’s Criminal Investigations Unit, admitting that the IRS uses a new AI system to examine an individual’s returns, bank statements, and financial information in case of potential fraud.
In the video footage, Mena is asked whether this new system is constitutional. Mena’s answer is, “I doubt it.”
In closing, Jordan and Hageman request all documents relating to the use of the AI system and communication between the Treasury Department and other federal agencies.
While Jordan investigates the IRS, RSBN reported that tech giant Google has also been scrutinized for election interference.