Death of Michael L. (“Mike”) Paup (8/24/25; 8/27/25)

Mike Paup passed away on August 20, 2025. His obituary is here. The obituary says "No services are scheduled at this time." My understanding is that there may be no services. However, the obituary page does offer an opportunity to post memories. As of this morning, there has been one posting. I am sure others will follow. Alternatively, those wishing to post memories on this blog as comments, please do so. I moderate comments but get notice of the need to moderate, so approval should be fairly current.

Added 8/27/25 @ 11am: The obituary linked above has been filled out with more detail. The Washington Post Obituary is here. One thing I noticed in both obits is that Mike received an LLB. We old timers remember that law schools began to change the basic law degree from LLB to JD, starting as I recall it in the 1960s. My class at UVA Law '67 voted down a proposal to change our degree. Nevertheless, at some time thereafter, UVA Law changed from LLB to JD, but apparently had not made that change by the time Mike graduated in 1969. I infer that Mike declined, as did I, when UVA Law offered to change the degree from LLB to JD.

I have been able to piece together a brief professional bio for Mike as follows:

Mike was born in Kansas on Oct. 27, 1941, and grew up in Wichita,  where he graduated from high school in 1959.  He graduated from Columbia University in 1963 and the University of Virginia Law School in 1969, where he served on the Law Review and was Order of the Coif. Mike joined the DOJ Tax Division Appellate Section in July 1969 and became a Reviewer there in 1973 or early 1974. Mike became Chief of the Appellate Section in 1980, and then Deputy Assistant Attorney General overseeing the Civil Trial Sections in late 1987. He was one of a handful of Appellate Section attorneys selected by the SG's office to present the oral argument to the Supreme Court, arguing (and winning)  United States v. Fulman, 434 U.S. 528 (1978). He received a Presidential Rank Award for Distinguished Service (the highest award given to those in the Civil Service (year perhaps 1990)). In 1995, Mike left DOJ Tax to become "Special Counsel" to Stuart Brown, then Chief Counsel of the IRS.  He served in that capacity for several years before retiring in the early 2000s.

I served with Mike in DOJ Appellate from 1969 to 1974, when I moved to DOJ Tax Refund 2. Mike was a great lawyer and fantastic person.

Death of Andrew Ascencio, a Tax Division Criminal Section Attorney (7/4/25)

My Google daily searches on the Tax Division picked up that Andrew Ascencio, a Tax Division lawyer, died in a car accident in Australia. Isabel Beer, Department of Justice attorney with Sonoma ties, dies in accident with on vacation in Australia (The Sonoma Index Tribune 7/3/25), here (unfortunately a pay wall). My Google search indicates that he was in the Criminal Section. E.g., Two Men Sentenced for Real Estate and Tax Fraud (DOJ Press Release 5/15/25), here,

Condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.

A Go Fund Me page, here, has been created to help with the expenses arising from his untimely death.

Trump’s DOJ Eliminates the Tax Division—An Editorial Comment (6/26/25; 6/27/25)

Caveat: This is Jack Townsend’s extended editorial comment on the elimination of DOJ Tax Division. This is an opinion piece. Those who do not care about my opinion might want to focus their attention elsewhere.

I previously wrote on the DOJ budget request that included eliminating the Tax Division. DOJ 2026 Budget Reflects Reorganization Plan to Eliminate Tax Division and Spread Its Functions to Other Components (CIV and CRIM) (DOJ Tax Division Alumni Blog 6/17/25), here.

Trump and his minions (collectively Trump) want to (i) benefit real or perceived friends, (ii) punish real or perceived enemies, and (iii) punish anyone or group or agency that deters him from doing (i) or (ii). Trump’s list of friends (real or perceived) and enemies (real or perceived) can change often and depends upon his whim or grievances of the moment. (For the balance of his posting, I will just refer to friends or enemies, but the reference includes real or perceived.) But I think the throughline is that he really hates his enemies. And he has made clear that he intends to use DOJ to punish his enemies.

The Tax Division is the least political of DOJ Components. (I think even less political than the Solicitor General’s office, particularly after the Bob Jones case where the SG’s office through Larry Wallace, a career attorney in the SG’s office, showed true independence. See Larry Wallace of SG's Office and Footnote Fame Dies (DOJ Tax Division Alumni Blog 2/24/20), here)

Trump could have appointed an Assistant Attorney General for the Tax Division and the next layer of Deputies who likely would bend the knee to Trump. (I’ll call this group Trump tax acolytes.) But Trump tax acolytes would have had some difficulty because, in my experience, they would face resistance in the Tax Division with a tradition of nonpartisanship and overall fairness in tax enforcement. In other words, the likelihood of resistance to Trump acolytes serving Trump (see items (i) and (ii) above) is much greater if the Tax Division remained a separate DOJ Component. And that same likelihood of resistance in the Tax Division as a separate Component would be true whoever holds the political reins of power--Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Conservative, or even a special category for Trump (for which there is a name but not appropriate for publication here; let’s just say it is not a term of endearment.)

DOJ 2026 Budget Reflects Reorganization Plan to Eliminate Tax Division and Spread Its Functions to Other Components (CIV and CRIM) (6/17/25)

The DOJ Fiscal Year 2026 Budget and Performance Summary, dated 6/13/25, here, reflects a reorganization eliminating the Tax Division and moving its functions to the Civil (Tax Branch) and Criminal Divisions. Much of the document is budget-speak that some policy-wonks may want to dig into, but for readers of this blog, the bottom line elimination of the Tax Division and transfer of its functions is the key point. Excerpts relevant to that key point are:

[*10: *20 of pdf]

• Eliminations.

    • Tax Division (TAX). TAX will be eliminated as a standalone component, with its civil enforcement work transferred to CIV and its criminal enforcement work being transferred to CRM. The FY 2025 operating plan allocated TAX’s remaining resources directly to the budgets for CIV and CRM; this is  also reflected in the FY 2026 request. The reorganization provides more oversight to the tax  enforcement function and more effectively distributes resources.

JAT Note: I infer that the "more oversight" may be the key here, because Trump and his minions have previously expressed unhappiness with the Tax Division, the least political DOJ Component, because it took action that Trump and his minions did not like and want more political control over the tax litigation. Of course, more political control of DOJ and its Components which Trump has ramped up may come back to haunt them later when a new administration comes in.

[*65: *77 of pdf]

[*69: *81 of pdf]

General Legal Activities
Criminal Division (CRM)

* * * *

[*70: *82 of pdf]

The Department of Justice has started a reorganization to improve its effectiveness in executing its mission. Included in this reorganization will be the integration of three new groups into the Criminal Division: the criminal portfolios of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch, the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit of the Civil Rights Division, and the criminal portfolios of the Tax Division.

      * * *