Examining Bachmann’s Years as an IRS Lawyer
“You’re running for president in a sound-bite era and trying to build certain features of a character that will resonate strongest with voters,” said Adam Brandon, a spokesman for FreedomWorks, one of the most influential organizations in the tea party movement. “She’s going to highlight the things that are consistent with the image she’s building up for the public.”
Brandon said he didn’t think tea party activists would be troubled by Bachmann’s work for the IRS. The tax code itself is the problem, he said. But some of her rivals might be tempted to make her former job an issue.
“If you’re Tim Pawlenty or Newt Gingrich, you’re going to grab this and say, “Look at this, she’s a tax collector,’ ”Brandon said.
The founder of the House Tea Party Caucus, Bachmann is a central figure in a national insurgency that decries big government and demands lower taxes. Her campaign and congressional biographies make no mention of her handling of tax collection cases from 1988 to 1993 for the IRS.