As a result of resource shortages, the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Dvision has detailed for six months 30% (25 of 95) of its prosecutors to U.S. Attorneys offices. Another three took permanent assignments. A Bloomberg article has called attention to the detailing of DOJ Tax Division attorneys.
The detailing of DOJ Tax Division prosecutors is to help the US Attorneys offices “address their short-term workforce needs resulting from the department’s ongoing hiring freeze,” according to a memo by H. Marshall Jarrett of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys.
Another major problem is the absence of adeputy assistant attorney general for criminal matters, who would be responsible for tax cases. The position has not been filled yet during the Obama Administration. As a result there is an absence of leadership at the top.
The absence of leadership and the shortage of front-line prosecutors in the Tax Division will make stakeholders, including taxpayers, financial institutions, practitioners, and the other stakeholders to realize that the U.S. government is not capable of matching its tough-talking rhetoric. The irony is that the detailing of prosecutors and inability to confirm a deputy assistant attorney general is occurring at the very time that there are many indictments pending and the U.S. is trying to impose pressure on eleven Swiss banks and the Swiss government.