The bizarre story about an IRS agent showing up at the home of journalist Matt Taibbi while he was testifying before Congress doesn’t appear to be fading from the headlines as quickly as the Biden administration probably hoped it would. David already dug into the tale and John did as well. (If you’re somehow not already familiar with this story you should probably go read those first.) But Jim Jordan and the Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee aren’t done with this investigation by a long shot. They have plenty of questions about the weaponization of the IRS and the clear attempt at intimidating a journalist. And shockingly, some reporters in the White House press corps are raising the issue as well. But as our colleague Katie Pavlich reports at Townhall, when a reporter tried to ask NSC spokesperson John Kirby about it, they were shut down cold.

Speaking to reporters at the White House Wednesday, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby was asked why an IRS agent showed up at the home of veteran journalist Matt Taibbi on the day he testified about the weaponization of government on Capitol Hill. Kirby was also asked if the White House is concerned about the intimidation, given President Joe Biden’s remarks at an event earlier in the day about the need to protect the press from persecution.

Kirby refused to answer the question.

Earlier this week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding answers and documentation of communication about the incident.

You need to watch (and listen to) this for yourself. The reporter drags out the question for well over a minute, framing it in a quite negative fashion. Kirby’s response takes barely two seconds.

WOW — John Kirby has absolutely NOTHING to say about the IRS making a house call to the home of @mtaibbi WHILE HE WAS TESTIFYING before Congress on the Twitter Files. pic.twitter.com/SXzGW9SCIz

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 29, 2023

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to refer you to the IRS.”

Kirby is acting as if he has no idea what’s going on at the IRS. But they had to know this question was coming. Or perhaps they just assumed that the White House press corps would perform their normal, docile role and bury it. Either way, all Kirby and KJP are doing is making the situation look even more suspicious.

Jim Jordan already sent a letter to the IRS Commissioner and Janet Yellen demanding answers. (The IRS falls under the Treasury Department.) He has received no response yet that we’ve been made aware of.

In terms of the tax man knocking at Taibbi’s door, I’m definitely more in David’s camp than John’s. This goes well beyond being “unusual” or a procedural glitch. I’ve had a couple of minor run-ins with the IRS over the years and it always goes the same way. You get a letter in the mail describing whatever anomaly they believe they found in your returns. They then either set up a phone call or mail some additional forms, after which you can either correct the return or decide to fight them. (It’s rarely worth fighting.)

In the few instances I was able to find online where someone received a visit at home from an IRS agent, the visit was always scheduled in advance. That only makes sense. If the agent doesn’t create an appointment they have no way of knowing if you will be at home when they arrive. It’s a stupid and wasteful way to do business.

But in this case, it just seems obvious that someone thought Taibbi might be thrown off his game if there was an unexpected knock at the door. Seeing an IRS agent there out of the blue saying they need to talk to you is reminiscent of the infamous “men in black” arriving to ask you what you’ve been up to. Leaving a note was probably believed to produce a similar effect. (Perhaps they had the date or time of Matt’s testimony wrong?)

In any event, they clearly underestimated Taibbi. Rather than being cowed, he took the IRS note public, and now the Judiciary Committee is getting involved. I saw Jim Jordan on some cable news show yesterday and he was asked if the House GOP might be able to claw back all that new funding for the IRS. He said it was definitely a possibility. Go get ’em, guys.