Opinion
972-17W
04-07-2023
WHISTLEBLOWER 972-17W, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent
ORDER
EMIN TORO JUDGE
In this action pursuant to I.R.C. § 7623(b), petitioner asks the Court to review the denial of a claim for a whistleblower award. This case was assigned to the undersigned judge for trial or other disposition on December 14, 2021. The Court filed an Opinion (159 T.C. No. 1) on July 13, 2022, addressing some, but not all, of the issues in the case.
Currently pending before the Court is petitioner's Motion to Compel Discovery (Doc. 79) filed November 2, 2018, and petitioner's Motion for Leave to File Supplement to the Administrative Record (Doc. 127) filed February 9, 2021. The Commissioner filed a Response to Petitioner's Motion to Compel Discovery (Doc. 90) on December 21, 2018, and a Response to Petitioner's Motion for Leave to Supplement the Administrative Record (Doc. 156) on January 12, 2023. Petitioner filed a Reply (Doc. 159) to the latter response on January 26, 2023.
Petitioner's Motion for Leave to Supplement the Administrative Record argues that the Court should supplement the administrative record in this case with "relevant excerpts" from the transcript of the criminal trial of one of the targets named by petitioner, which petitioner alleges "directly support[] petitioner's claim that petitioner's disclosures . . . triggered a set of communications that caused [the IRS] to reinstate the criminal case." Pet'r's Mot. ¶ 13. Petitioner did not attach the relevant transcript excerpts to the Motion for Leave to Supplement the Administrative Record. Consequently, we issued an Order on March 22, 2023, directing petitioner to file a status report on or before March 29, 2023, along with the transcript excerpts that petitioner seeks to add to the administrative record in this case. Petitioner filed a Response on March 28, 2023 (Doc. 163), attaching the transcript excerpts.
We then issued an Order on March 29, 2023, directing petitioner to file a status report explaining whether the Motion to Compel Discovery remains outstanding or has become moot. Petitioner filed a Status Report on April 4, 2023 (Doc. 165), stating petitioner believes the Motion to Compel Discovery continues to be meritorious. Petitioner, however, also stated that in an effort to move the case forward that petitioner would agree to withdraw the Motion to Compel Discovery "if [r]espondent can agree that the trial transcript pending before this Court is an appropriate addition to the Administrative Record." Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED that, on or before April 13, 2023, respondent shall file a response to this Order. The response shall include respondent's views on the proposal outlined in petitioner's Status Report filed with the Court on April 4, 2023.