Trump Eyes IRS Overhaul To Go After George Soros, Leftist Donor Networks

A key adviser in the Treasury Department is drawing up plans that would overhaul the IRS criminal-investigative division and allow the Trump administration to more easily target leftist groups, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

A senior IRS official involved in making the plans told the WSJ that the administration has already compiled a list of targets, including Democratic donors, that the IRS would investigate. Gary Shapley, who advises Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, has told people that he will replace career bureaucrat Guy Ficco, the chief of the service’s investigative unit, according to the WSJ.

The move would help the administration control the reins of the IRS criminal investigation division and install people who align with Trump’s vision. The plans would also open the doors for IRS investigators to go after leftist groups and target Democratic mega-donors, including George Soros, according to a senior IRS official and another source, whom the WSJ reported was “briefed on the list.”

President Donald Trump has already tasked Bessent, who is also serving as the acting IRS commissioner, with probing left-wing groups that the administration believes could be financing violent demonstrations against the Trump administration in cities across the United States. Trump has also called for Soros and his son, Alex, to be charged under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) “because of their support of Violent Protests, and much more, all throughout the United States of America.”

“We’re not going to allow these lunatics to rip apart America any more, never giving it so much as a chance to ‘BREATHE,’ and be FREE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on August 27. “Soros, and his group of psychopaths, have caused great damage to our Country! That includes his Crazy, West Coast friends. Be careful, we’re watching you!”

Bessent said on Wednesday that his department is prioritizing the effort to target “violent domestic networks,” comparing the plan to the United States going after terrorist networks after 9/11. The IRS is a bureau of the Treasury Department.

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During an appearance on a special White House edition of “The Charlie Kirk Show” on the same day that Kirk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Bessent highlighted the rise of anti-Israel demonstrations in the United States following Hamas’ attack on the Jewish state two years ago.

“Since the terrible day two years ago, the anti-Semitism and the bias that came out after October 7, 2023, many of these organizations have been financed by non-profits, and it’s going to stop. And we are going to, as they always say, follow the money … this takes a lot of money and a lot of organization,” he said.

Bessent added that the assassination of Charlie Kirk kick-started the Treasury Department’s effort to “compile lists” of networks that are responsible for funding any leftist violence.

“Charlie’s death has set this off, and we are determined, not only to honor him, but to keep our country safe and to ensure freedom of speech on both sides,” the Treasury Secretary said.

Just as @USTreasury led the effort after 9/11 to track terrorist financing, it will follow the money behind violent domestic networks. We will expose domestic terrorists and bring them to justice. pic.twitter.com/iitcxdcgnf

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) October 14, 2025

Shapley did not address the proposed overhaul of the IRS criminal investigation division when asked by the WSJ, simply stating, “I’m grateful to continue in my role in reforming the IRS.”

A Treasury Department spokesman told the WSJ that the IRS “team’s focus remains collections, privacy, and customer service.”

The Daily Wire reached out to the White House, requesting comment on the WSJ report.