This is the fifth update related to my efforts to hold the IRS and the U.S. Department of State accountable for denying my 2018 passport renewal application because of an alleged “seriously delinquent tax debt”.
This update provides newly-acquired evidence proving the IRS’ data, concerning me, contains material errors. These errors show that the IRS unlawfully confiscated more than $30,000 from my earnings and Social Security benefits, unlawfully placed my name on its list of Americans with seriously delinquent federal tax “debt”, and caused Defendant State to unlawfully reject my application to renew my passport.
As a result, this case has morphed from a simple FOIA lawsuit to one seeking judicial review of the policies and procedures used by the IRS to “certify” the accuracy of its data. And, given the potential that millions of Americans have had their passports revoked, as I prosecute this case, I will more than likely move the Court to certify this as a class action.
I hope you now understand this is a case of national importance holding the government accountable for the impact of 26 U.S.C. §7345, which infringes upon the right of millions of Americans to travel internationally for business and pleasure. That statute, an amendment to the FAST Act (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation), was passed by Congress in 2015 and signed into law by President Barack Hussein Obama.
As you can imagine, my prosecution of this case, as a Pro Se litigant, comes at great cost in time and actual expenses related to my PACER subscription (which I use to download Court documents), and for drafting, printing and mailing pleadings. And, with the IRS fraudulently confiscating more than $1,000.00 each month from my Social Security benefits, I simply do not have the funds left over after paying my ordinary living expenses to cover these costs.
This litigation will continue into 2021, so, I humbly request that you go to the “Donate” page and contribute generously to this effort. Any amount will be welcomed and appreciated.
If you are a subscriber to this website, you know and understand that the IRS falsifies its internal digital records and external paper documents to create the appearance of income tax liabilities in order to harass and frighten Americans, garnish wages, seize assets, and refer innocent people to the Department of Justice to indict, prosecute, convict and imprison them for crimes they did not commit. The incontrovertible evidence proving this fraud was obtained, by FOIA, from the IRS' own records.
See the Introduction page of this website for details.
To bring yourself current on this situation, please start by reading the following:
My December 31, 2019 Update #1, “Robert A. McNeil (RAM) Passport Saga”,
My February 15, 2020 Update #2, “**NEW LAWSUIT** 20-cv-00329 McNeil v US Department of State”, and
My April 19, 2020 Update #3 “UPDATE Case 20-cv-0329 McNeil v. State Department Re: Passport Denial”.
My July 30, 2020 PASSPORT UPDATE #4 Case 20-cv-0329 McNeil v. State Department
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Update #4 ended with this July 20, 2020 entry: State also filed its Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc 13, 5 pages]. The same Declarations of Stein and Gonzalez were attached as Docs 13-1 and 13-2, respectively. The language in the Opposition largely mirrors that in State’s Memorandum in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment and relies on the heavily on the Gonzalez Declaration:
The Declaration of Miguel Gonzalez, attached hereto, establishes that the process followed by IRS and State regarding the certification of seriously delinquent tax debts is that IRS sends to the Department of State each week an electronic list of taxpayers with “seriously delinquent tax debt[s]” and that the Department of State uses that list to determine for whom it should revoke or deny passports pursuant to the statutory ban in 22 U.S.C. § 2714a. See Gonzalez Decl. ¶¶ 6, 8; 22 C.F.R. § 51.60(h)(2)) (previously at 22 C.F.R. § 51.60(a)(3)). IRS does not provide a signed, sworn certification for each taxpayer. See Gonzalez Decl. ¶ 9.
Plaintiff has pointed to 26 U.S.C. § 7345(d), and its requirement that IRS provide the taxpayer notice, via a form “Notice CP508C,” that IRS has certified to State the seriously delinquent tax debt, to argue that IRS is also statutorily required to provide a copy of the Notice CP508C to the Department of State as well as to the taxpayer. E.g., Compl. ¶ 20. This reads too much into the statutory language, which merely requires that IRS provide a certification to the Department of State, and does not say anything about the form that that certification must take. But the more important point for purposes of this FOIA litigation is that this statute does not undermine the facts described in the attached declarations, which describe a streamlined process by which IRS provides a weekly electronic certification to State, in the form of a list of taxpayers. Gonzalez Decl. ¶¶ 6, 8.
Conclusion
Defendant asks the Court to deny Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment.
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Now, in compliance with Judge Bates’ June 23, 2020 Minute Order, I must reply to State’s Opposition by August 20, 2020.
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On July 22, 2020, I mailed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Internal Revenue Service requesting a copy of the following document(s):
1. Any records relating to me promulgated by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under the authority of 26 U.S.C. §7345 - Revocation of passport, specifically including Notice CP508C "Notice of Certification of your seriously delinquent federal tax debt to the State Department"
2. A copy of any “electronically transmitted certification” issued by the IRS to the Department of State issued under the authority of 26 U.S.C. §7345 - Revocation of passport, and in compliance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Treasury governing the processes and procedures by which the IRS notifies the Department of State of its certification of a “seriously delinquent tax debt”, which:
a) relates to me by name (Robert Allen McNeil), DOB (January 23, 1949), and/or SS# (XXX-XX-7522),
b) is redacted for names, dates and identifying numbers not relating to me, and
c) contains the name, title, contact information, and statement of certification of the IRS person making the certification under 26 U.S.C. §7345, in compliance with the Department of State/IRS MOU governing this matter.
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On August 13, 2020, I filed Plaintiff’s Consent Motion for Enlargement of Time to Reply to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc 14-0, 3 pages]. This Motion reads, in part, as follows:
On August 11, 2020, Defendant consented to this Consent Motion via email to undersigned Plaintiff.
In support of this request, I offer the following reason: In its Motion for Summary Judgment [12], Defendant introduced new evidence into the case via Declarations by two Department of State employees. That evidence required me, on July 22, 2020, to send a FOIA to the IRS seeking additional documents. Most likely, the FOIA response will not be received before the August 20, 2020 deadline, thus, my request for an additional 30 days.
This is my first request to extend this deadline. The additional time will not prejudice Defendant.
For the reason stated, I ask the Court to extend its deadline to file my reply or otherwise respond to the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment until September 18, 2020. A proposed order is attached.
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On the same day, August 13, 2020, Judge Bates Granted my Motion via his Minute Order [Doc 14a, 1 pg.]
This was followed, on August 14, 2020, by his second Order resetting my response deadline to September 18, 2020. [Doc. 14b, 1 pg.]
On September 3, 2020, in response to my July 22, 2020 FOIA, Defendant IRS provided nineteen (19) pages of information. [To view the actual documents, see Exh. A to my October 16, 2020 Amended Complaint, below] The following is a listing of the information received:
Pages 1 thru 3 – IRS FOIA response transmittal letter dated September 3, 2020.
Pages 4 thru 8 - A copy of a June 18, 2018 CP508C stating that, for 2003-2012, I have a seriously delinquent federal tax debt of $470,535.27. Take note of the Tucson, Arizona address where the IRS sent the CP508C. In my 71 years on this earth, I have NEVER lived in Arizona. Also note the IRS’ reference to a Form 1040A. For the years listed, I do not recall filing a Form 1040A.
Page 9 - June 18, 2018, email at 9:34am from David Bonanzinga, Program Analyst - Passport, SBSE Collection Policy to Lisa Beard, Acting Deputy Commissioner, SBSE. In this email, he transmits to her a link to the "Passport Shared Folder" where the "passport file" is located, for her to view. According to the email, the file contains 20,797 records (20,558 new certifications + 239 records reversing their certifications). Also included in the email is the "certification" language that he asked her to concur with and authorize.
[RAM Note: One hour and 29 minutes later, at 11:03am, Lisa Beard responds with "I concur. Thank you." Ms. Beard provided no signature or attestation under penalty of perjury. Therefore, this list was not “certified” in any way. In addition, it seems implausible that, in less than an hour and a half, Ms. Beard could possibly “certify” and “attest to” the accuracy of a list containing 20,558 names of “taxpayers” with seriously delinquent federal tax debt.]
Page 10 - This is a June 13, 2018 memo from Mary Beth Murphy - Commissioner, SBSE to Lisa Beard - Acting Deputy Commissioner, SBSE. In this memo, Ms. Murphy delegates authority for Ms. Beard to "sign all official correspondence on my behalf."
[RAM Note: Please notice that, absent a Delegation of Authority to Ms. Beard, Commissioner Mary Beth Murphy would be the official who “certifies” the weekly listing sent to State.
Page 11 - This is a printout of my alleged 2003-2012 information contained in the listing to State. Take note of the erroneous Tucson, Arizona address providing evidence that IRS’ records concerning me are erroneous and, therefore, unreliable.
Pages 12 thru 16 - A copy of a July 2, 2018 CP508C for 2013. Again, take note of the erroneous Tucson, Arizona address where the IRS sent the CP508C. Also note the IRS’ reference to a Form 1040. For the year 2013, I do not recall filing a Form 1040.
Page 17 - July 2, 2018, email at 1:04pm from David Bonanzinga, Program Analyst - Passport, SBSE Collection Policy to Lisa Beard, Acting Deputy Commissioner, SBSE. In this email, he transmits to her a link to the "Passport Shared Folder" where the "passport file" is located, for her to view. According to the email, the file contains 24,176 records (23,797 new certifications + 379 records reversing their certifications). Also included in the email is the "certification" language that he asked her to concur and authorize.
[RAM Note: One hour and 53 minutes later, at 2:57pm, Lisa Beard responds with "I approve, thank you." Ms. Beard provided no signature or attestation under penalty of perjury. Therefore, this list was not “certified” in any way. In addition, it seems implausible that, in less than an hour and a half, Ms. Beard could possibly “certify” and “attest to” the accuracy of a list containing 23,797 names of “taxpayers” with seriously delinquent federal tax debt.]
Page 18 - This is a June 29, 2018 memo from Mary Beth Murphy - Commissioner, SBSE to Lisa Beard - Acting Deputy Commissioner, SBSE. In this memo, Ms. Murphy delegates authority for Ms. Beard to "sign all official correspondence on my behalf."
[RAM Note: Again, please notice that, absent a Delegation of Authority to Ms. Beard, Commissioner Mary Beth Murphy would be the official who “certifies” the weekly listing sent to State.]
Page 19 - This is a printout of my alleged 2013 information contained in the listing to State. Again, take note of the erroneous Tucson, Arizona address providing evidence that IRS’ records concerning me are erroneous and, therefore, unreliable.
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On September 17, 2020, in compliance with Judge Bates’ Order, I filed Plaintiff's Rule 15(a)(2) Motion for Leave of Court to Amend Complaint and for Extension of Time [Doc. 15, 6 pgs.] along with a Proposed Order [Doc. 15-1, 1 pg.]
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Shortly thereafter, on September 24, 2020, Judge Bates' filed a Minute Order GRANTING Leave to File Amended Complaint. [Doc. 17a, 1 pg.]
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That same day, September 24, 2020, the DoJ filed a Notice of Substitution of Counsel [Doc. 18, 1 pg.] indicating that Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Michael A. Tilghman was assigned to my case and AUSA Alan Burch had been removed.
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On October 16, 2020, I filed my Amended Complaint [Doc. 19-0, 16 pgs.], along with the following Exhibits:
Exhibit Index [Doc. 19-1, 1 pg.]
Exh. A [Doc. 19-2, 20 pgs.] IRS FOIA Response Re Passport Revocation Procedures
Exh. B [Doc. 19-3, 5 pgs.] McNeil US Tax Court Petition
Exh. C [Doc. 19-4, 9 pgs.] IRS Motion to Dismiss Tax Court Petition
Exh. D [Doc. 19-5, 2 pgs.] US Tax Court - Judge Foley's Order Dismissing Case for Lack of Jurisdiction
Exh. E [Doc. 19-6, 10 pgs.] Weldon vs US
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Also on October 16, 2020, I received from the Clerk for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a stamped, signed copy of the Summons [Doc. 20, 1 pg.] to be served on the IRS, along with my Amended Complaint.
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On October 16, 2020, I filed [Doc. 21-0, 11 pgs.] my Plaintiff's Reply to Defendant's Opposition [13] to Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment [11], along with the following Exhibits:
Exhibit Index [Doc. 21-1, 1 pg.]
Exh. A [Doc. 21-2, 20 pgs.] IRS FOIA Response Re Passport Revocation Procedures
Exh. B [Doc. 21-3, 5 pgs.] McNeil US Tax Court Petition
Exh. C [Doc. 21-4, 9 pgs.] IRS Motion to Dismiss Tax Court Petition
Exh. D [Doc. 21-5, 2 pgs.] US Tax Court - Judge Foley's Order Dismissing Case for Lack of Jurisdiction
Exh. E [Doc. 21-6, 10 pgs.] Weldon vs US
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On October 16, 2020, I filed [Doc. 22-0, 11 pgs.] Plaintiff's Reply to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment [12], along with the following Exhibits:
Exhibit Index [Doc. 22-1, 1 pg.]
Exh. A [Doc. 22-2, 20 pgs.] IRS FOIA Response Re Passport Revocation Procedures
Exh. B [Doc. 22-3, 5 pgs.] McNeil US Tax Court Petition
Exh. C [Doc. 22-4, 9 pgs.] IRS Motion to Dismiss Tax Court Petition
Exh. D [Doc. 22-5, 2 pgs.] US Tax Court - Judge Foley's Order Dismissing Case for Lack of Jurisdiction
Exh. E [Doc. 22-6, 10 pgs.] Weldon vs US
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On October 19, 2020, Judge Bates issued a Minute Order stating “Upon consideration of [22] plaintiff’s response to defendant’s cross-motion for summary judgment, and the entire record herein, it is hereby ORDERED that defendant shall file its reply in support of its cross-motion by not later than October 28, 2020.”
This was followed, on October 20, 2020, by his second Order resetting Defendant’s reply deadline to October 28, 2020.
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On October 28, 2020, in accordance with Judge Bates’ Minute Order, Defendant State filed its Reply in Support of Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. 23, 6 pgs.].
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Then, on October 29, 2020, State filed “Defendant’s Consent Motion for Extension of Time to File Response to Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint” [Doc. 24-0, 3 pgs.] with Proposed Order [Doc, 24-1, 1 pg.], attached.
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On October 30, 2020, AUSA Ryan McMonagle, counsel for the IRS, filed a Motion to Substitute Proper Party and Clarify United States' Time to Respond to Amended Complaint [Doc. 25-0, 4 pgs.], with Proposed Order [Doc. 25-1, 1 pg.].
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On October 30, 2020, the Clerk filed my Affidavit of Mailing [Doc. 26, 2 pgs.] confirming that my summons to the Internal Revenue Service had been served on October 20, 2020.
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On November 3, 2020, Judge Bates issued a Minute Order [Doc. 26a, 1 pg.] Granting IRS’ Motion to Substitute Proper Party and Clarify United States' Time to Respond to Amended Complaint [Doc. 25-0] and Ordering the IRS to respond to my Amended Complaint [Doc. 19-0, 1 pg.] by January 4, 2021.
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On November 4, 2020, the Clerk entered onto the docket the words “Set/Reset Deadlines: Answer due by 1/4/2021”. [Doc. 26b, 1pg.]
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Also, please refer to the Docket Sheet for a complete listing of the activity related to this case.