According to Fox Business, a recent inspector general study revealed that the Internal Revenue Service occasionally lacked “sufficient procedures” to shield private taxpayer data from illegal access.

Certain “critical systems” remained accessible to some former IRS workers and contractors, according to a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration review.

After Charles Littlejohn, a former IRS contractor, disclosed tax returns of former President Trump and “thousands of the country’s wealthiest individuals,” the inspector general opened an inquiry. Littlejohn acknowledged taking the tax information and giving it to media sites; as Blaze News has reported, he was sentenced to five years in jail earlier this year.

The US House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Representative Jason Smith (R) of Missouri, wrote a letter requesting the investigation last year in response to the “massive leak of citizen confidential tax info that the IRS is supposed to keep secure,” according to the Inspector General’s report.

Smith released a statement saying, “When it was revealed that an IRS contractor had stolen and disclosed thousands of people’s tax returns, including Trump’s,” alarm bells should have gone off at the IRS.

Rather, it appears that the agency has not taken much action in response. He said, “The IRS has no justification whatsoever for failing to secure sensitive taxpayer data.

“TIGTA agreed to do an examination of how the IRS gives access to and secures Federal Tax Information kept on its different technology systems (i.e., sensitive systems),” the latest report said after receiving the Chairman’s letter.

“Unauthorized access and publication of taxpayer information might erode the taxpaying public’s faith in the federal tax system to preserve sensitive tax information,” the Inspector General (IG) said.

The Business Entitlement Access Request System is how the agency provides access, according to the inspector general’s findings. It was further said that the procedure is the same for both contractors and employees.

As of July, the investigation found that over 91,000 people had access to at least one of its 276 important systems. Among those users, more than 5,000 were contractors.

“Systematic removal procedures for people who no longer needed access to critical systems were not always operating as anticipated. For instance, TIGTA discovered that as of July 13, 2023, 279 people who had been marked as separated in BEARS were still able to access at least one IRS-sensitive system. As per the report, the IRS revoked the IRS network access for each of these persons. This measure, according to the IRS, lessens the possibility of a user accessing a sensitive system, but it does not completely eliminate it.

It also revealed that people were “not always removed” when a background check on an employee or contractor turned up “not favorable” results.

In particular, as of July 13, 2023, the results of the most current background checks on 19 contractors were unfavorable. Nevertheless, because the IRS did not take the necessary steps to suspend or deactivate the contractors from the IRS’s networks, these contractors were still able to access one or more sensitive systems.

The IRS is taking action to strengthen the security of its critical systems, according to the inquiry.

“However, the IRS lacks sufficient controls to identify or prohibit users from removing data without authorization for several critical systems,” the audit said.

The Inspector General (IG) presented the IRS with three suggestions based on the investigation’s findings. These included suspending users who had negative background checks right away and “timely” dismissing employees who left the company.

The report stated that although the IRS accepted all of the IG’s recommendations, it “disagreed” with their “view of the IRS’s ‘security posture.'”

“The IRS rejected any suggestion that the 19 contractors that the TIGTA found had compromised private data. Fifteen contractors were restored after resubmitting their papers, and all nineteen contractors had previously gotten positive results from background checks. It further stated, “The remaining four contractors have been isolated in the personnel system and had their network access stopped.”

The IRS said that when a contractor is found to not have a positive background determination, it “already takes actions to revoke access.”

In his testimony to the committee last week, IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel asserted that the organization has “taken a variety of steps” to safeguard private taxpayer data.

Fox Business sent a request for comment, but the IRS did not reply.

Illegal migrant gangs allegedly targeted establishments in West Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania, to perpetrate retail theft.

Within the last month, at least three gangs of illegal immigrants reportedly stole thousands of dollars in products from shops in the Pennsylvania town, according to WPVI 6 ABC.

“They’re taking advantage of coming to the United States and committing these crimes while being able to vanish to some extent,” Detective Scott Pezick of the West Whiteland Township Police Department told the publication.

Two Venezuelan males, Albert Torrealba Jordan and Keiver Guilarte Camps, reportedly stole $2,000 in items from the Ulta in Exton on February 1 after illegally entering the United States, according to authorities.

Pezick told WPVI 6 ABC that the area has noticed an increase in “South American thieving organizations” in the previous month. West Whiteland police have allegedly stated that the national surge in illegal migrants entering the country has had an impact on their community, despite its distance of 2,000 miles from the southern border.

In June 2023, one Peruvian individual was detained and deported for stealing $17,000 in products from Kohl’s, according to the publication. Police say he was spotted in the United States barely months after being removed.

“I just received a call from a federal agency informing me that he had returned to the nation,” Pezick added. “That happened less than a month ago, and he’s back in the United States.”

According to the publication, illegal migrant groups have been associated with other crimes in the region, such as burglaries. Federal authorities are allegedly supporting police in locating suspects.

In a recent episode of her own podcast, fitness star Jillian Michaels challenged Bill Maher on the health of the economy and the inflation issue.

Following a lengthy discussion regarding the COVID-19 epidemic and health, Maher recounted something he had recently read in an economic newspaper, but did not specify which one.

“Isn’t it great to you, Michaels?” he inquired. “This country came out of the epidemic much better. “We won the epidemic economically.”

But Michaels, a trainer most known for her role on the reality program “The Biggest Loser,” instantly criticized Maher’s warped perception of reality.

“God, I do not feel that way. Describe it to me. “I think inflation is outrageous,” Michaels replied.

“Inflation is not irrational,” Maher said.

“Bill, go get an automobile. A home has tripled here,” Michaels shot back. “Buy some f**king eggs!”

In response, Maher stated that “feelings” are fueling concerns about inflation and the economy, claiming that “the data” show that emotions are out of sync with reality. However, Maher did not provide any statistics to back up his allegations.

It is true that inflation has dropped dramatically since the crisis nearly two years back, when inflation hit record levels. However, this does not imply that items are becoming less expensive. Rather, it indicates that prices are not rising at the same rate as before.

According to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics study, inflation “rose 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis” in January, reaching 3.1%. Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food, is at 3.9%, a more revealing figure. Both statistics are much higher than the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.

Aside from reality, Michaels’ remark indicated that Maher, a wealthy celebrity, is out of touch with many Americans’ economic issues.

Later in the program, Michaels stated why she relocated from California to Florida.

Not only is Florida “least insane,” but Michaels reported an event during the COVID-19 pandemic in which a felon freed from jail due to the epidemic reoffended, targeting her Malibu house.

“Long story, but third strike, man goes to jail, gets out during COVID,” she added. “Give me a f***ing break!”

Michaels, who said she “could not have been more left” before the outbreak but now considers herself a political centrist, frequently criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and CA’s leaders during the interview. She said they were “decriminalizing everything” and “prioritizing weird s***.”

She also chastised Maher for backing Newsom, who justified the governor’s rampant hypocrisy. Michaels described Newsom as a “hypocrite” who refuses to obey his own “absurd” pandemic regulations.

“He didn’t follow his own guidelines,” Michaels explained. “If you want to be a leader, you must set an example.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that American corporations are trying to boost profits and appease investors by reversing a multi-year trend of employing more people for positions connected to ESG problems.

December saw a net loss of 3,071 ESG posts at U.S. corporations, with just 2,897 new roles added. This trend has persisted for half of the previous year, according to the WSJ. Investors are shifting their money away from companies with strong ESG standards and towards organizations with better return potential, which is driving this change.

Joe Dubbin, managing director of executive search company Cripps Leadership Advisors, told the WSJ that “2023 saw a dramatic cooling in discourse about ESG and, in certain areas, quite a pronounced attack on what ESG was about.” “It has definitely made its way into the hiring criteria that have been assigned to us.”

According to the WSJ, in 2022, companies employed over 66,000 people with an interest in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, with over 55,000 left. In 2023, the opposite happened: companies hired 40,884 people with such an interest, while 39,452 left. With 49,383 employees departing, hiring reached a peak of almost 68,000 in 2021.

The Wall Street Journal said that in 2023, Google, Facebook’s parent company Meta, and Amazon were the top three companies in terms of the percentage of ESG personnel cut. The largest outflows were in the consulting, financial services, and technology industries.

There were more ESG fund closures than openings in the third quarter of 2023, due to the roughly $2.7 billion in losses experienced by these funds. For the fourth consecutive quarter, investors withdrew money from ESG funds.

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) sent subpoenas to Vanguard, BlackRock, Arjuna Capital, and State Street Global Advisors in December, requesting information related to an antitrust probe concerning ESG collusion. This puts top asset managers under legal pressure from congressional monitoring. Claims by legislative officials in December 2022 that asset managers were organizing a “cartel” to reduce corporate greenhouse gas emissions sparked the probe.

In May 2023, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that discourages financial companies from discriminating against consumers based on their political, religious, or social viewpoint. The bill forbids state and municipal governments from taking ESG issues into account when issuing bonds. Additionally, in March 2023, DeSantis spearheaded a coalition of 18 states opposed to ESG, urging other governments to outlaw specific tactics similar to Florida’s.

“You’ll have to figure out what language you’ll use to stay in compliance while also continuing to do business with your biggest customers who are asking for sustainability, carbon, or ESG data,” Mike Wallace, chief decarbonization officer at carbon accounting firm Persefoni, told the WSJ.