Mike Huckabee: Kill the 'Criminal' IRS

The Internal Revenue Service is a "criminal enterprise" that should be "put to death," Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says.

"They use the extraordinary, almost unlimited power of government that they have and they use it to attack political enemies. They use it to attack conservatives, pro-Israel groups. They hide the records, they destroy the records," Huckabee told CBN's "The Brody File."

"The IRS can launch an investigation, they conduct their own investigation, they come to findings and they even get to assess the penalty as a result of their findings. It's a one-stop shop.

"That violates the various branches of government that are supposed to be involved in adjudicating us and it is also a violation of that basic sense not only the separation of powers but of being able to be innocent until proven guilty."

The former Arkansas governor called the agency a "criminal enterprise" that needs to be "put to death."

Huckabee made his comments as he discussed his "fair tax" plan, which he says has no need for the IRS. Other tax-reform ideas being proposed by other presidential candidates leave the agency intact, he added.

"Every one of those plans is tinkering with the tax code. You still have the IRS," Huckabee said.

"They're still a criminal enterprise. They still need to be put to death and only the fair tax does that."

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