Article on DOJ Tax Obituary (4/15/26)

1. DOJ Tax Alumni may be interested in this offering: Karen Kelly, An Obituary for DOJ’s Tax Division (Justice Connection 4/15/26), here.

While considering the Tax Division and its role and the reasons the Trump administration may want to diminish its role (and disserve the country), readers might want to consider the following from DOJ Tax’s history, particularly the role of Robert H. Jackson, former AAG Tax, Solicitor General, Attorney General, Supreme Court Justice, and Nuremburg War Crimes Prosecutor:

• Congratulations to the U.S. on Excellence Joining the U.S. Department of Justice (1936) (Jackson List 4/8/62), here.
• “The Federal Prosecutor,” in 1940, and in Hope Even Today (The Jackson List 4/1/26), here.

 

Shuffling the DOJ Tax Deck Once Again (4/10/26; 4/11/26)

The Acting Attorney General announced by memo dated 4/7/26, here, some initial details of the National Fraud Enforcement Division that President Trump created by Executive Order 14395, titled "Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud," here. In part relevant to tax crimes enforcement, the memo says (p. 2, bold-face supplied by JAT):

• Effective immediately, the Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division shall assume operational control of the Criminal Division's Tax Section, the Health Care Fraud Unit, and the Market, Government, and Consumer Fraud Unit, and shall establish the priorities and direct the allocation of resources within them. During this interim period, the existing supervisory chains responsible for the above-named units and section will continue to exercise supervisory authority for their personnel, subject to oversight and direction from the Assistant Attorney General for the National Fraud Enforcement Division.

Relative to the priorities of criminal tax enforcement, does this re-alignment (more like a shuffling of the deck) accomplish anything meaningful, unless the signal is to use more criminal tax resources to support nontax criminal initiatives rather than to support the tax system.

Added 4/11/26 2:00pm:

ThomsonReuters has this article: Maureen Leddy, DOJ Criminal Tax Section Moves Again (ThomsonReuters 4/10/26), here. Key excerpts:

Reminder on DOJ Tax Division Reunion on 5/8/26-Registration Required (4/10/26)

 

Please join us for the DOJ Tax Division Alumni Reunion on Friday, May 8 from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. at Miller & Chevalier Chartered.

Picking up on the tradition in place for many years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, please join us for a reunion of the DOJ Tax Division to be held on Friday, May 8, 2026, coinciding with the ABA Tax Section's May Meeting in Washington, DC. The reunion will be hosted at the offices of Miller & Chevalier Chartered, 900 16th Street, NW.

For Tax Division alumni and those at the tax branches able to attend, please register using the link below. To cover catering costs, we ask attendees to contribute $50 toward the event. Payment details will be provided to all registrants. Space is limited, so please do not register unless you will be able to attend. We ask that you register and submit payment by May 1.

PLEASE NOTE: Space is limited. If we do not receive payment by May 1, we will begin opening up registration to those on the waiting list.

We're looking forward to another great reunion.

Register here: https://bit.ly/4aBs4TG

Alumni Planning Committee

▪️ Lauren Darwit, Moore Tax Law Group; former Trial Attorney, Civil Trial Section Central
▪️ Michael Desmond, Miller & Chevalier Chartered; former Trial Attorney, Civil Trial Section Western
▪️ Patrick Mullarkey, former Chief, Civil Trial Section Northern
▪️ Jack Townsend, former Trial Attorney, Tax Division Refund Trial Section 2 and Tax Division Appellate Section

Death of Robert L. (Bob) Welsh (4/3/26)

Bob Welsh died on March 26. His obituary is here.

The following is excerpted from the obit relevant to his Tax Division service:

Bob moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1972 to work as an attorney for the Department of Interior's Board of Land Appeals. He later transitioned to the Department of Justice's Tax Division, where he was a senior litigator for over 40 years, involved in complex litigation and some of the largest tax cases of the time. In that position he contributed an expansive knowledge and love of the law, along with an intelligent and quick-witted sense of levity that drew people to him.