Purge on the Potomac

by Roberts, David Thomas;

  “Not to the extent ours is. I’ve got team members who are borrowing money to feed their families. A couple have had assets seized. The damned tax attorneys can’t seem to get anything rectified. Hell, even personal bankruptcy is too late as some of them are coming under criminal indictment,” Lofton exclaimed. “It’s all a bunch of lies, a hit job, and you know it, Zach!”

  “If your people had followed protocol months ago, they couldn’t touch your money. My team has gotten hit the same, but they followed our established protocols to protect cash and assets. Yours didn’t.”

  “Circumstances, Zach. Some of them have circumstances why protocol wasn’t followed to the letter. What am I going to do, abandon them?”

  “No, of course not,” Zach said sympathetically. “Are you going to tell me what your plans are so we can at least try to minimize any exposure we have? Surely you could use our intelligence apparatus.”

  “I have my own intelligence apparatus, Zach, you know that.”

  “Hank, I’m going to let you think about this for twenty-four hours. These turds are saying that your operation will enable or help Madison. Doesn’t that concern you?” Zach was frustrated.

  “Sure it does, Zach, but I have no idea how reliable that intelligence is. And what am I supposed to do in the meantime? Hell, you might not figure out what Madison is until after it has happened.”

  “Hank, I’m begging you to stand down for now,” Zach said.

  “I appreciate your concern. Call me when you have new information.”

  Click.

  “The son of a bitch hung up on me!” shouted Zach.

  “Damn. He doesn’t believe us?” asked Beard.

  “No, that ain’t it. He’s determined to run his own show. He’s hell bent on leading his own operation to pay back the IRS. What do y’all think he’s going to do?” asked Will.

  “He doesn’t have the technology experience on that team to do anything covert in their systems, although he may have some common contacts with us that could,” said Beard.

  “No, I don’t think so,” Zach stated. “Our contacts aren’t going to initiate any kind of large-scale effort against a governmental agency without a lot more behind them than Lofton’s team. When you decide to act on the IRS, NSA, FBI, ATF or the military complex, you are playing with fire.”

  “Zach, what type of response is he talking about?” asked Will. “What could make the IRS stand down?”

  “He would have to use covert technology in my opinion, but I don’t think he has the means or desire. He wants his pound of flesh,” Zach lamented.

  “If he goes that route, he’s going to bring them down on all our heads!” yelled Beard.

  “Yep, and he can’t see it because his hatred is getting in the way of his judgment. There’s other ways to respond. Let’s hope he has something more tactical in mind,” Zach said hopefully.

  “He doesn’t care or doesn’t believe our intel on Madison?” asked Beard.

  “Deep down, he cares. But he knows we really don’t have much to go on. We really need to uncover something, anything that could sway him to stop. But I have a feeling we don’t have much time,” Zach said ominously. “Let’s get on the phone and break the latest news to Pops.”

  Meanwhile, Lofton got on his cell phone with his chief lieutenants. “This is Lofton. Circumstances indicate that we might be compromised. Operation Payback is officially moved up seventy-two hours.”

  Chapter 43

  “The Union was formed by the voluntary agreement of the states; and these, in uniting together, have not forfeited their nationality, nor have they been reduced to the condition of one and the same people. If one of the states chooses to withdraw from the compact, it would be difficult to disapprove its right of doing so, and the Federal Government would have no means of maintaining its claims directly either by force or right.”

  - Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859)

  French historian

  Source: Democracy in America, 1835

  The massive regional Internal Revenue Service complex that sits on I-35 South in Austin is a dark gray concrete monstrosity that has few windows and zero architectural soul.

  Almost twenty-four hundred government employees work at the sprawling complex, which is due for eventual closure since this is one of the major sites that still processes paper tax returns, which are becoming less prevalent in today’s society. The complex hosts three eight-hour shifts of government employees Monday through Friday and one shift on Saturdays during the peak of tax season.

  Shift changes occurred at 7:30 each morning, causing a minor traffic jam as employees tried to leave the complex while others were coming in. It was a typical government operation with very little forethought or planning, and the Texas Department of Transportation was forced to put a red light on the frontage road to allow cars to exit the parking lots.

  On a bright August morning, nothing was unusual or different from a normal shift change at the complex.

  At 8:01 a.m., a phone call came into IRS headquarters, announcing that the facility had one hour to evacuate the building because a bomb had been planted. At the same time, a call came into the Austin Police Department, as well as two local television broadcast stations, giving the same information.

  The FBI and ATF were immediately notified. Police cruisers, SWAT, and bomb squad trucks from the police department rushed to the scene. The news hit the broadcast airwaves.

  Within moments, the Texas Rangers were also notified, and Pops Younger was immediately aware of the situation but, for now, Austin police would be the lead law enforcement agency, dispatching their own bomb squad.

  Bomb threats had come into the IRS facility before, and the employees were trained on these types of drills regularly. The employees emptying the building did not seem to be alarmed in any way; in fact, some of them were celebrating what might end up being a paid day off.

  What the TV stations were not disclosing to the public was that the callers had indicated to them and to the IRS that the bombs would go off at exactly 9:45 a.m., urging them to get personnel off the premises promptly.

  At the same exact time, the same phone calls were made to IRS offices in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio with the exact same instructions. The FBI and ATF were slow to communicate between cities, and it was not immediately obvious to them that they were dealing with some type of coordinated threat.

  The chief security officer at the IRS in Austin was not worried. He believed this was another hoax and considered it wasn’t a stretch to think it was an IRS employee who just wanted a paid day off. He wasn’t in any hurry to get employees out; in fact, he instructed a few of his subordinates to stay behind and not evacuate.

  The scene in the parking lot was more tangled than normal, as police kept open a turn lane so the bomb squad could get in easily. There were ten minutes left until the threatened detonation of the bombs, yet there were still dozens of people in the parking lot making their casual way to their vehicles. Cars were jammed in line trying to get out of the parking lot.

  The Austin bomb squad was going through the building, trying to find anything that looked remotely like a bomb. With only a little more than an hour’s threat notification and a massive complex to cover, they knew they likely had to get lucky to identify the threat, if it was real at all.

  The scene was similar in the other IRS offices in Texas that were also threatened, although none had as many employees to evacuate as Austin.

  “Zach, you seeing this news break?” asked Will via cell phone.

  “No, what’s happening?” Zach asked.

  “There’s apparently bomb threats at multiple IRS offices in Texas. They are all being evacuated. It’s a coordinated threat.”

  “Geez, this has got to be Lofton,” Zach muttered. “Let’s pray it’s only a threat.”

  “We’ll know, I guess,” Will stated. “They have bomb squads on scene at each one. Surely he’s just jacking with them.”

  “God, let’s hop
e so,” answered Zach.

  In Austin, almost all the cars in the parking lots were gone, but a few remained parked. Austin police asked the IRS security officers why so many cars were still there. The officer believed some employees left with others, figuring they would be called back.

  The building was finally cleared, and the IRS security chief remained with the Austin police bomb squad on the perimeter of the parking lot waiting for the 9:45 a.m. mark. There were no employees left in the building.

  At 9:45 a.m., the sergeant in charge of SWAT looked at his watch and asked the IRS security chief and bomb squad leader if they had the same time. They all confirmed it was 9:45 or very close.

  “Nothing. A big fat nothing,” chuckled the sergeant.

  Suddenly―Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!

  Six cars in the parking lot exploded in sequence, a few seconds from each other. The initial blast knocked the IRS security chief on his back, and he landed with a thud on the parking lot pavement, which knocked the breath out of him. Police, bomb squad technicians, and IRS security personnel were all knocked to the ground. A small number of windows still existing on the structure were instantly shattered.

  At nearly the same moment, the same scene played itself out at all the other locations that were threatened, although none of those locations had more than two explosions each.

  The drama played out on live TV as Austin stations broadcast remotely from near the IRS complex. The stations, not thinking the threat was credible, had dispatched rookie crews who just got the scoop of their young careers.

  “Damn it, Lofton!” yelled Zach, thinking about calling Lofton, but deciding against it. He didn’t want anything that could be discoverable in the event Lofton was responsible.

  Reports coming about the explosions did not confirm any fatalities or serious injuries, although some police got hit by shattered glass and debris―nothing serious from any site so far that couldn’t be treated at the scene.

  Like clockwork, media outlets in the affected cities got anonymous faxes that read:

  Today’s events are the direct result and fault of the IRS, Congress and the courts.

  The criminal IRS has continued to operate without proper governmental oversight, terrorizing citizens who must comply with a repressive tax code they don’t understand.

  The IRS has now been weaponized by this administration to harass and terrorize those who make their enemy list.

  Despite our Bill of Rights, the courts and the IRS allow our due process rights and our privacy rights under the Fourth Amendment to be eviscerated. We demand immediate action from Congress or by presidential executive order to immediately rescind the elements of tax law that violate the U.S. Constitution.

  If the IRS continues to terrorize us, we will have no choice but to continue to terrorize those who would carry out unconstitutional enforcement actions against American citizens. This is your last warning. If we do not see immediate action and resulting reform, like ordinary citizens who get no due process, IRS employees won’t either.

  No IRS employee is safe―ever.

  Concerned Citizens Willing to Take Action Now

  All the TV stations were broadcasting the exact memo. Politicians were immediately chiming in, as the ATF and FBI were now swarming over the exploded cars for clues to the perpetrators. The IRS announced all of the affected locations were going to be closed until further notice while they reassessed security at the locations.

  “This is a domestic terrorist attack,” claimed U.S. Senator Kevin Simpson from Texas. “No matter how much someone disagrees with a current law or the tax code as written, the process for change is in our democratic system and this crime will not go unpunished!”

    

  “That dumb ass Simpson still thinks this is a democracy instead of a constitutional republic,” laughed Hank Lofton as he sat and drank beer with several on his team. They had gathered at a deer lease in an undisclosed location to watch the coverage of the event—their event.

  “Do you think they got the message?” asked one of Lofton’s team members.

  “Hell, no, but it sure will slow down whatever enforcement actions they have going on in the near term,” answered Lofton as he lit up a cigar. “I want to congratulate everyone here. Exactly as planned. No injuries, but maximum terror! I can’t wait to see the faces of IRS employees the next time they are allowed to come to work in each of those buildings.” They all laughed out loud, clanking beers together and slapping high fives.

  “We are going to become extremely disruptive to their operations, same as they have us. They will rue the day they messed with us. Maximum pressure, maximum terror. If this doesn’t drive the change that’s needed, then we’ll make it hard for them to operate, at least in Texas.”

    

  Pops Younger’s Texas Rangers’ office made contact with acting Texas Governor Strasburg, requesting a late afternoon meeting with police, FBI and ATF at Austin Police headquarters. Little did he know this was already planned, and Strasburg’s meeting time was intentionally thirty minutes later than the time scheduled to start. In a cramped conference room, about twenty federal ATF and FBI agents crammed in to meet over the bombings. The meeting and debriefing were well underway when Pops and four Texas Rangers opened the door. It was immediately obvious to Pops the meeting had started without him.

  “Did I get the time wrong?” asked Pops, pulling a fancy pocket watch out of his starched jeans.

  Many of the agents and some of the detectives in the room had never seen Pops in person. There he was, bold as life itself with his Stetson, alligator cowboy boots and famous handlebar mustache. Any time Pops walked into a room, his presence commanded attention.

  “Three-thirty?” asked acting Governor Strasburg.

  “No, sir, we were told 4:00 p.m.,” said a visibly annoyed Pops.

  “Well, we’ve already started,” Strasburg stated. “The FBI has taken jurisdiction of this bombing because it was on federal property.” He nodded to Michael Jarvis, the lead regional FBI director from Dallas.

  “We will, of course, provide any support needed,” responded Pops.

  “We don’t need any help from the Texas Rangers,” said Jarvis harshly.

  “Son, I’m here at the request of our governor and the people of Texas. I don’t give a rat’s ass if you like it or not,” retorted Pops sharply.

  “You boys are responsible for the death of some of my friends, good people, during the Texas Crisis and you aren’t impeding this investigation one iota,” claimed Jarvis

  “Are we here to solve this crime or are you Yankees just here to whine about bad judgment resulting in unconstitutional orders that got your own damned people kilt?” responded Pops, stepping closer to the front of the room.

  “Since this is probably one of your yokels, I’m sure we can solve this without you,” snarled Jarvis as the room became very tense.

  Pops reached over to the table where a cup of coffee sat in front of Jarvis, spit his tobacco juice into the cup, then set it back down. The FBI agents jumped up and the four Texas Rangers each took a step forward.

  “Listen, calm down, calm down,” said Austin Chief of Police Dan Watson. “We understand there’s bad blood here, but we all have to work together to solve this.”

  “Pops, we are going to let the feds handle this. I appreciate you coming down. We will call you as necessary,” said Strasburg, dismissing Younger.

  Pops squinted his eyes and glared at the governor. He knew Strasburg had set him up to embarrass him by making a late entrance, only to be dismissed in front of federal agents.

  “Chief, good to see you.” Silence settled over the room. Pops nodded to Watson as he began to make his way to the door. Dyson, Pops’ second in command, was livid. He had never seen Pops disrespected in such a manner.

  “Chief,” Dyson tipped his hat as he walked out, then said, just loud enough for everyone to hear, “Tread carefully, my Yankee friends.”


  Chapter 44

  “We have no government armed in power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a religious and moral people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”

  - John Adams (1735-1826)

  Founding Father, 2nd US President

  President Bartlett entered the White House briefing room to a throng of reporters the day after the bombings of Texas IRS offices.

  Political pundits and policy hacks were again all over the people of Texas, blaming an anti-government culture that emanated from the state, resulting in instances such as the Texas Crisis and the latest bombings of government facilities.

  “Good morning,” President Bartlett said, nodding to the crowd of media reps. “I am saddened and horrified that I am in this room this morning addressing a domestic terrorist incident in Texas. Although no one was seriously injured, it has disrupted operations of the Treasury Department, preventing employees from doing their constitutionally protected jobs in Texas.” She paused, then continued, “The FBI is leading this investigation and, rest assured, the perpetrators of this act of terror will be apprehended and face the full force of American justice. Now I will take your questions.”

  “Madam President, are these bombings in any way related to the Texas Crisis, including those not arrested or held accountable for the death of federal agents?” asked a CNN White House correspondent.

  “We don’t yet know who the perpetrators were. As soon as we do, we will announce the identities of the suspects, after they are apprehended, for obvious reasons,” Bartlett said firmly.

  The CNN reporter pressed, “But why weren’t the others ever arrested?”

  “The focus today is the recent bombings of IRS offices.” Bartlett scowled at the reporter. “We have answered those questions before and I will refer you back to those statements. Next?”

  “Madam President, is the focus of the investigation on militia groups or those who were connected to the independence referendum vote in Texas?” asked a correspondent from MSNBC.