-Caveat Lector-
FRIDAY MARCH 26 1999
THE POWER TO DESTROY
IRS special agent challenges system
Agency illegitimate, tax law non-existent, he says
By Sarah Foster
© 1999 WorldNetDaily.com
"The Internal Revenue Service is everything the so-called tax protesters
said it was; non-responsive, unable to withstand scrutiny, tyrannical, and
oblivious to the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution." That's how Joseph
Banister -- a certified public accountant who, until last month, was an
investigator and gunslinger for the Criminal Investigation Division of the
IRS -- now regards his former employer. His conclusion is based in part on
a personal two-year investigation into the agency's history and purpose --
an investigation he began somewhat reluctantly, never expecting he'd reach
the conclusion he did. His research led him to question its very legality
and constitutionality. Deeply disturbed by his discoveries, he summarized
these in a report which, in February, he sent to his supervisors, and asked
them to respond to three allegations: That the filing of federal income
tax returns is voluntary and the filing of federal income tax returns is
not required; That the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was never
ratified; That income taxes are not used to pay for daily government
operations, but to pay the interest on the national debt. "All the time I
was doing my research, I looked for snags -- looked for things that would
prove that everything I was reading and finding out was wrong," Banister
told WorldNetDaily. "I had taken this job thinking I'd be wearing the white
hat, and I slowly found out I was not wearing the white hat. So something
had to change." The change came quickly last month, when the IRS accepted
Banister's offer of resignation rather than respond to the questions
raised. He is believed to be the first IRS-CID special agent who -- having
determined to his satisfaction that certain allegations about the income
tax were true -- confronted the hierarchy at the IRS about his findings.
He has paid dearly for this. "It's the end of my dream of a career in law
enforcement," he said, recalling in a telephone interview the series of
events that propelled him from the ranks of armed federal agents to the
camp of those reviled by the government as tax protesters. The action also
cost him his $80,000 a year job. Banister, 36, had dreamed that dream for
a long time. In 1986, he graduated with a degree in business administration
from San Jose State University in the San Francisco Bay area, and for the
next three years worked for KPMG Peat Marwick as a senior tax specialist
and staff auditor. A gentle, soft-spoken man -- who chooses his words
carefully -- he would seem ideally suited to a job dealing with numbers and
accounting. Just the kind of job he had, but it wasn't enough. "I wanted
to get into law enforcement, but had recently (in 1990) gotten my certified
public accountant certificate," he explained. "I wondered if there wasn't
some way a CPA could wear a uniform, gun and a badge." A skilled marksman
-- Banister has been a member of the National Rifle Association and Gun
Owners of America since 1991 and 1992, respectively -- he began exploring
the federal law enforcement agencies for employment opportunities. In 1991
he applied for a position at both the FBI and IRS-CID, "in case the FBI job
didn't work out." Due to a hiring freeze, the FBI kept him at "in a holding
pattern" for two years. So when in August 1993, the IRS-CID phoned and
asked if he were still interested in working for them, Banister said yes.
Although his heart was set on the FBI, working for the IRS as a special
agent had definite advantages. He could work in his hometown of San Jose,
and not have to move around the country -- as working for the FBI might
have required. This was something his wife and sons greatly appreciated.
"We'll treat you just as we do every taxpayer -- no special favors," he was
promised. And the IRS was as good as its word. As part of his background
check, Banister's financial affairs were closely audited. Told he owed
$4,000, he fought the charge and won -- and even received a $1,000 refund.
Despite this small skirmish with the auditors, he was hired anyway, and in
December 1993 embarked on his new career as "an accountant with a badge and
a gun," as IRS-CID special agents are called. "The most important day of
my career was probably the first day, when I swore an oath to God to
support and defend the Constitution of the United States," Banister
recalled. "I have always taken that oath very seriously." The newly
sworn-in agent enjoyed the changes of pace his work demanded. As one of the
3,000 IRS-CID officers nationwide, Banister was authorized to execute and
serve search and arrest warrants, to make arrests without warrant, to carry
firearms, and seize property subject to forfeiture. He was eventually
advanced to the position of asset forfeiture coordinator and Organized
Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force coordinator for the Central California
District. He was a firearms instructor for his fellow agents. "I loved my
job," he said. "I was able to do very complicated financial analyses, yet
every three months I'd go out and do my shotgun and handgun qualification.
I had to do a variety of things and handle a number of situations from
helping serve the most scary search warrant to sitting in court and
testifying about a 10-year, $10 million financial analysis." Banister knew
the reputation the IRS had earned; that the very name, IRS, inspired fear
in people. But, he was not troubled by that and hoped to change public
perception. "I wasn't personally responsible for the IRS reputation," he
explained. "I thought in my small way I'd make a difference. I knew it was
an unpopular tax, but what tax isn't unpopular? I figured that if it had to
be administered it should be administered by people who didn't let the
power go to their heads and behave like idiots. If that happened, if the
officers knew they were to serve the people, then everything would be OK.
"As corny as it sounds, that's what I believed," he said. If it hadn't
been for a particular talk radio host, Banister might still be a special
agent. He liked the work, which included opportunities to listen to talk
radio. One of his favorite talk show hosts is Geoff Metcalf, a popular
conservative West Coast talk show host and WorldNetDaily columnist. As he
tells it: "In December 1996, I was driving around in my government car and
listening to Geoff Metcalf, whom I really like. He had a woman named Devvy
Kidd as a guest, and I'd never heard of her -- but she was saying all this
stuff about how the income tax was voluntary and the 16th Amendment was
never ratified. If she hadn't been on Metcalf's show, I'd have dismissed
her as one of those kooky tax protesters we'd been warned about. But being
on Metcalf's show lent real credibility. I figured he wouldn't have someone
on unless she had something valuable to say." Kidd, a writer and activist,
had recently moved with her husband to California from Colorado. She and
constitutional attorney Larry Becraft of Huntsville, Alabama, have founded
the Wallace Institute, named after Scottish freedom fighter, William
"Braveheart" Wallace. Curious, but skeptical, Banister sent for Kidd's two
booklets -- "Why a Bankrupt America" and "Blind Loyalty" -- and began
studying. Looking back, he describes himself as "so uninformed. I didn't
know the underlying issues." "There was so much. There was information
about the Federal Reserve System and quotes from Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tx.). It
was overwhelming," he said. Despite a heavy workload and family
commitments, he persisted. "I'm not only a criminal investigator, I'm
basically curious. I don't take anybody's word for things. And this
research took me a long time. I was working 50 hours a week to support a
wife and kids. It took a while to find the time to do it, but I kept at
it." Banister contacted Kidd and the other writers she listed in her
books. There was William Benson, who with Red Beckman had co-authored "The
Law that Never Was," which convinced Banister that the 16th Amendment had
never been ratified. He phoned Bill Conklin. "He's the guy that says
filing income tax returns is voluntary," Banister explained, impressed
particularly by fact that Conklin has offered a $50,000 reward to anyone
who can prove him wrong -- "and it's still waiting for someone to collect
it." For background on the Federal Reserve System Banister turned to
"TheCreature from Jekyll Island," by D. Griffith, published by the John
Birch Society. In addition, he turned to the statute books themselves and
examined the court cases, to see if all these claims and charges he was
hearing about for the first time were true. His conclusions: "The court
cases checked out, just as I had been told they would," he said. "The cases
can be read in any law library, they haven't been overruled. To this day I
haven't been able to find any untruths about what Devvy Kidd has said about
the Federal Reserve and the income tax. Everything she said has checked
out." Small wonder Banister found himself asking himself more and more --
"My gosh, what am I part of?" In early February, Banister submitted his
findings -- which he had compiled in a report -- to his superiors at the
IRS, asking that they pass along his allegations to those high in the IRS
so that they could respond to the three allegations. This was done.
Banister learned his report and the allegations were circulated at the
highest levels -- including the legal department. As promised at the
beginning of his career, the IRS responded to the once-eager special agent
as they do to any taxpayer who asks embarrassing questions about the
constitutionality of the income tax and the 16th Amendment. On Feb. 17,
Banister was called into his supervisor's office, and assured his report
had been reviewed "by the highest levels of the IRS." Then he was handed a
memo dated that day, presenting the typical non-response: "The Internal
Revenue Service will not be responding to your request and will provide you
with the necessary paperwork to tender your resignation," his supervisor
wrote. "You will be placed on administrative leave effective upon receipt
of this memorandum for a period of seven calendar days to consider what
actions you wish to take." Banister says he was "astonished" and
"confused," at the response -- or rather "the lack of it." After all, he
had worked for the agency five years. He believed his allegations were
serious enough to warrant a response. Even a personal plea to Commissioner
Charles Rossotti himself, wasn't enough. His career as a special agent was
so much dust. Banister reports no retaliatory actions have been taken. He
has not been followed; his phone appears to be untapped. He is working to
have his CPA license reinstated so he can return to the private sector, but
he hopes his action will inspire both members of the public and his fellow
agents to take some kind of action -- perhaps to demand a thorough review
and examination by Congress; something that's never been done. Says
Banister: "I never intended to write a report, but I needed to tell more
than one person what I had found. I can't tell people not to file, but I
figure if people learn that their tax dollars are going simply to pay
interest on a debt and doesn't go to run the government, if they know they
have certain rights -- they'll do something. "So I'm not advocating
anything. I'm just trying to tell people the truth. People get mad if their
auto mechanic overcharges them by 50 bucks. If they find out the whole darn
income tax system is a big fraud, I'm hoping they'll get mad enough to do
something about it." There has been speculation circulated on the Internet
that Banister is a "plant" -- an agent provocateur -- sent by the IRS to
infiltrate the ranks of the tax protest movement. Those questioned by
WorldNetDaily dispute these charges. "No way," says Kidd. "I've talked to
him, and he didn't just jump in -- I had to really work to convince him.
Besides, he's not advocating anything. He's not saying not to file, he's
not saying not to pay taxes. He's not doing any of that. He's a really
decent guy who loves his family and his country." Bill Benson, co-author
of the "Law that Never Was," agrees. "I've spent hours and hours talking
to Joe," Benson says. "We talked many times on the phone over the course of
a year; it wasn't just one casual conversation. If he were a fraud,
somewhere in the course of a year I'd have detected something. "As Joe has
discovered -- and will come forward to testify -- there is no law in the
Internal Revenue Code that requires anyone to file a 1040 form or pay an
income tax. He's done a great service for the people in this country."
Steve Hempfling, director of the Free Enterprise Society, a citizens group
based in Fresno, California, also vouches for Banister's authenticity.
"This (Banister's defection from the IRS) could be the most important event
to hit the tax-protest movement in years, he says. "Because of his
credibility this could start a major tidal wave for the IRS to deal with,
if he hangs in there. "I like him; I think he's sincere," Hempfling
continued. "He's done what we've always asked the government officials to
do: read our material and show us where we're wrong. He did what we asked.
He actually looked it over and couldn't find anything wrong -- so he came
over to our side." Joe Banister will be speaking in person at the Free
Enterprise Society convention in San Jose, California, April 10-11. A copy
of his report, Investigating the Federal Income Tax, can be ordered from
his website. See also: 'An action career with the IRS'
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