Article snippet: WASHINGTON — An Internal Revenue Service official has filed a whistle-blower complaint reporting that he was told at least one Treasury Department political appointee attempted to improperly interfere with the annual audit of the president or vice president’s tax returns, according to multiple people familiar with the document. Trump administration officials dismissed the whistle-blower’s complaint as flimsy because it is based on conversations with other government officials. But congressional Democrats were alarmed by the complaint, now circulating on Capitol Hill, and flagged it to a federal judge. They are also discussing whether to make it public. The complaint has come amid the escalating legal battle between the Treasury Department and House Democrats over the release of President Trump’s tax returns. Part of that inquiry from Democrats is over how the IRS conducts its annual audit of the president and vice president’s tax returns. That process is supposed to be walled off from political appointees and interference. The existence of a whistle-blower complaint was revealed in a court filing several months ago, but little about it has become public. It has not been revealed previously that the complaint pertained to allegations of interference in the audit process by at least one Treasury Department official. It has also not been previously revealed that the whistle-blower is a career IRS official. The whistle-blower’s account focuses on the integrity of th... Link to the full article to read more