American Tax Officer

David was still in his office listening to Nisenbaki's report on the remaining major companies when the door suddenly opened and Keanu rushed in, saying, "Director, there's a big problem!"

"What?"

Keanu approached David, opened the Twitter website on the computer, and found Phipps' account, clicking on the lengthy post.

As the content emerged before his eyes, David's expression darkened but he wasn't too surprised.

He had already received news that Disney was ready to lobby Congress to attack their tax legislation; now the opposition had finally shown their hand.

"Damn it, this goddamn Phipps, a Congressman, has no right to attack our tax laws; isn't he siding with those criminals?"

"What I want to know is, what benefits did Disney offer him to go against us, the IRS, and do this?"

Bucky and Nisen were furious, having already settled two of the eight film companies, tearing a hole in Hollywood; this development disrupted their rhythm.

"After Phipps published this article, those criminals oppressed by our tax laws felt like spring had come, constantly stirring the pot; now public opinion is against us. We must find a way to deal with it, Director."

David looked up at Keanu and ordered, "Bring me Phipps' personal file!"

In about ten minutes, Keanu came in with Phipps' personal information, which David took and began to scrutinize seriously.

Phipps, 58 years old this year, had been in politics for over 16 years. He served as a city manager in San Jose and as a mayor in San Diego before moving to the State Legislature. He had been a Congressman for more than three terms, a veritable Congressional veteran.

Continuing to read the information, David started to understand why Phipps dared to stand up using such sharp words to criticize the tax laws.

It turned out that although Phipps was a veteran Congressman, his political achievements were poor, leading to dwindling support from Californians each year.

In November this year, America's midterm elections were approaching, and Phipps had been nominated as one of the Senatorial candidates.

However, due to his low popularity in California, it was likely he'd only be a runner-up.

If he wanted to turn the tide against the wind, he had to take an unorthodox approach!

And this 'unorthodox approach' was to attack the tax law, in order to gain the support of California's criminals!

While David considered this, at the Washington D.C. Headquarters, the upper echelons were intensely discussing Phipps' article.

"Damn it, our tax law took so much effort to pass in Congress, and now with Phipps causing trouble, even if it's not abolished, if Congress reevaluates and cuts some clauses, it will be severely undermined!"

"During the last voting session, this damned Phipps cast a dissenting vote, and now he's coming out publicly challenging us, wanting to repeal our laws, does he really have to oppose us like this?"

"It seems like Phipps is taking a stand, but in reality, it's definitely the Hollywood moguls backing him up. Director David has pressed them too hard, driving them into a desperate fight!"

Seeing the blame pointed at David, Donald could not sit still and turned his gaze: "Warner, when Allied America and MGM announced they were paying the 1.5 billion tax, you weren't saying that!"

A few days earlier, when news of Allied America and MGM agreeing to pay a large sum in back taxes had arrived, the entire IRS was boiling with excitement; even Rohan had to admire David's accomplishment.

After all, David had managed not just any celebrities, but two of Hollywood's giants, totaling 1.5 billion US dollars, breaking another record for the tax law.

"No matter what, Phipps, as a Congressman, making a public stand against our tax laws, has a huge destructive influence. Plus, since the tax law was introduced, those criminals have been paying taxes on the surface but are certainly resentful inside. Now that there's such a high-profile figure speaking for them, they will definitely join in and create chaos."

This time it was Welton Heng who spoke, not pointing fingers at David but expressing his concern for the bigger picture.

Obadiah nodded, then after a moment, looked up at Rohan and said, "Go talk to the Speaker of the House; see if she can shut Phipps up."

"Director, Phipps is clearly using the attack on our tax law to boost his own support; the Speaker of the House might not be persuaded by us."

In fact, what Rohan wanted to say was that the Speaker of the House might not even care about their IRS since she's the third-highest official in the country.

Moreover, Phipps is one of their own in Congress, while in contrast, they at the IRS are definitely outsiders.

Why would they help an outsider against one of their own? Discover exclusive content at empire

"Just 'persuade' her a bit; after all, Congress doesn't want to be short of funds, does it?"

This remark made everyone present pause, but they quickly understood. Their Director wasn't planning on persuading the Speaker; instead, he was threatening her.

However, considering that the issue involved the tax law, it was like a slap in the face to the IRS; they needed to be firm.