From: Joseph Banister [mailto:
jbanister@freedomabovefortune.com]
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 1:46 PM
Subject: FORMER IRS SPECIAL AGENT REQUESTING YOUR HELP
Dear Friends,
It is hard to believe it has been over three years since I was vindicated in connection with IRS allegations that my efforts on behalf of a client amounted to a conspiracy to defraud the United States . It appears that everyone but tax enforcement apparatus officials, including the jury who heard all of the evidence, recognized that my conduct consisted of diligent efforts performed in good faith rather than the sinister motives propagated by the tax police.
It would have been nice if my vindication three years ago lead to some peace and quiet but that has not been the case. I purposely minimized my appeals for assistance during these last three years partly to encourage help for others (such as former IRS Revenue Agent Sherry Jackson) and partly out of recognition of the sustained and generous support that had already been shared with me as I defended myself against those horrendously unjust charges three years ago. Unfortunately, but not all that surprisingly, the tax enforcement apparatus did not let up one bit, as documents recently obtained from that apparatus (some of which I will be sharing with you in the future) reveal.
Since my IRS resignation in 1999, but especially over these last three years, I have been blessed with access to knowledgeable and courageous people who have helped me fight various battles for either significantly discounted compensation or no compensation. Some of the work I have performed myself with occasional assistance from those knowledgeable and courageous people and some of the work has been done directly by those knowledgeable and courageous people. However, there are four current “battlefronts”, briefly described below not necessarily in order of importance, that are necessitating this appeal for help.
The first “battlefront” is a refund lawsuit I initiated against the California Franchise Tax Board. For those who have not lived in California or another state that has a state income tax system, you may not be aware that states like California have their own “tax enforcement apparatus”. In California , the “Franchise Tax Board” administers the state version of the personal income tax system. Given the close relationship between the IRS and state taxing agencies, it will come as no surprise that after my IRS resignation I began having disputes not only with the IRS but with the California Franchise Tax Board as well. Back in 2006, I initiated a suit against the Franchise Tax Board (“FTB”) to address some of the egregious conduct perpetrated by that agency against me in particular for the year 2002, but no doubt perpetrated against any Californian questioning the FTB’s practices, including arbitrary and capricious proposed assessments and bogus administrative due process hearings.
The second “battlefront” involves appeals relating to my “disbarment” from “practice” before the Internal Revenue Service. My long-time friends may recall that the IRS “railroaded” me into a situation whereby I am prohibited from formally representing clients who have IRS problems. I use the term “railroaded” because, as some of you may recall, I was prevented from having a hearing to confront my accusers, had no access to a jury, was prevented from offering my own testimony in my defense, was prevented from calling witnesses and presenting documents in my defense, was prevented from confronting and cross-examining my accusers, etc. The federal tax enforcement apparatus violated numerous statutory and constitutional provisions in achieving this “disbarment” and appeals are underway to obtain redress for these violations. Believe me, given the plethora of administrative procedures available to state and federal authorities for use in attacking whistleblowers, the tactics that were used against me could be used against virtually any licensed professional in virtually unlimited circumstances to destroy them. It is almost as if this process had been created long ago and placed on a shelf ready to implement if ever a professional came along and focused scrutiny on the very legitimacy of the tax liability in the first place rather than simply negotiating an inflated tax bill, which is what I had done on behalf of various clients prior to being attacked by the IRS.
The third “battlefront” is an attack against one of my attorneys Robert Bernhoft, of Milwaukee , Wisconsin . As some of you may know Mr. Bernhoft founded the Bernhoft Law Firm ( http://www.bernhoftlaw.com ). Mr. Bernhoft and his firm have collaboratively or exclusively achieved vindication for many clients, including myself, FedEx pilot Vernice Kuglin, actor Wesley Snipes and many others. Obviously, the existence of lawyers not only unafraid of, but successful in, defending citizens against the heavy hand of the income tax enforcement apparatus makes that apparatus very unhappy and vindictive. The income tax enforcement apparatus has targeted Robert Bernhoft personally in order to attempt to breach the attorney-client privilege that exists between us and for any counsel he has provided to me in the past.
The fourth “battlefront” is a continuing effort to obtain internal IRS documents through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Thousands of documents accumulated by the IRS in its spying and surveillance campaign against me have already been obtained and thousands more are being sought. I will be sharing some of these documents with you in the future and you will be shocked at their contents!
Given the explanations above, I presume you will agree that my whistleblower’s battle has not subsided in the least but has only evolved into multiple areas of engagement. I have reached the point where I need to call upon you for your help once again. I am extremely grateful to all who helped me up through the summer of 2005 and also to those who have occasionally continued to help me since then. Without your help, there is no way I would have survived. Please consider supporting me in the battles ahead with your frequent prayers.
If, in addition to your prayers, you are able to financially contribute to this cause, even just a little bit, that would also be appreciated. Donations for legal expenses and litigation/logistical expenses can be made payable to “Joseph Banister Legal Defense Fund” and mailed to 1805 N. Carson Street , Carson City , Nevada 89701 . Donations for me personally to help diminish the financial burdens of missed work on account of fighting these battles can be made payable to “Joseph Banister” and mailed to the same address. Whether you choose to donate to me personally or to the legal defense fund, both are sorely needed so I thank you for your consideration but I must alert you that the IRS has targeted not only me but people who support me (see Bernhoft battle paragraph above). Thus, those who would like to help but would prefer to remain anonymous should consider donations using cash or blank money orders.
Whether your donation is to the legal defense fund or to me personally, I would like to give a gift to any donor who donates $25 or more. Attorney Larry Becraft has compiled the most comprehensive, easy to access, history of the federal income tax laws I have ever laid my eyes on and he has synthesized this compilation into one CD-ROM and given permission for me to make copies of this CD as a gift. What better gift could there be than unprecedented access for American to the history and evolution of the federal income tax? The compilation includes more recent information such as a report from a 1975 congressional investigation of the IRS, Title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations from 1999, the entire Internal Revenue Code from January, 2002, Statutes At Large 111 through 121 (105th Congress through 110th Congress, roughly 1997 through 2007) and earlier information such as the Revenue Acts of 1919, 1921, 1924, 1926, 1928, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1938, tax regulations from some of the aforementioned years, a mind-blowing 31 page “secret” memorandum written in 1945 later declassified regarding the history of the “Bureau of Internal Revenue” (the earlier name of the agency we know as the IRS), the entire 1939 Internal Revenue Code, the entire 1954 Internal Revenue Code and Derivations of the 1939 and 1954 Internal Revenue Codes (prepared by the Joint Committee on Taxation in 1992). Much of these documents were created in word searchable format so you can search for any specific word you can think of. It would take dozens if not hundreds of hours to create such a resource from scratch and Larry has saved us all from having to do so.
It would be helpful if you would put “Donation/Free Gift” on the envelope or enclosed letter so that it is clear you would like the CD-ROM gift. If you do not mention the gift, I will presume you are not interested in receiving it. (I do hope every donor is interested in receiving this valuable research tool.)
Thank you, again, for your continuing support and I will continue to report on developments as they occur.
