Hagerty: I’ll Press Treasury to Get to Bottom of Taibbi Visit ‘Even if It Requires Withholding Their Funding’

On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) vowed that he will use the appropriations process to put pressure on the Treasury Department in order to get to the bottom of the IRS’ “highly irregular” visit to Twitter files journalist Matt Taibbi’s home on the day that Taibbi testified before Congress that “reeks of intimidation” and that he will do so, “even if it requires withholding” funding from the Treasury Department.

Hagerty said, “Maria, this seems highly irregular. They could have sent a letter. They could have had someone make a phone call. They could have reached out to Matt Taibbi’s CPA to have dealt with this. Instead, to send an agent to his home, again, on the very day that he’s to testify, this reeks of intimidation. And again, we’ve got to bring this to an end. I think that the hearings are going to bring a lot of clarity to this, a lot of visibility that’s needed. Again, I’m going to continue to put pressure through the Appropriations Committee on the Treasury to get to the bottom of this, even if it requires withholding their funding.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett