President Donald Trump repeated threats to revoke tax-exempt status from ideological enemies – including Harvard University and Wikipedia – could come back to haunt conservatives, Republican lawyer and historian Joshua Claybourn warned Friday.
In a sharply worded New York Times op-ed, Claybourn took aim at Trump’s escalated threats against his perceived political enemies, writing that while many on the right have cheered the moves as overdue pushback against liberals, the administration is playing with fire.
“That’s a mistake — one that conservatives could come to regret,” he wrote bluntly. “Whether or not Mr. Trump ultimately succeeds, his attempt to weaponize the tax code sets a troubling and dangerous precedent."
If an administration can threaten liberal institutions today, he argued, “what would stop a leftist administration from targeting churches and synagogues tomorrow?”
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“Far-fetched? Hardly,” he added. “Unchecked executive power rarely contracts voluntarily.”
Claybourn went on to cite former President Barack Obama's targeting of the Tea Party through the IRS as one example. But Trump’s weaponization of tax policy, he said, “is of a different scale.”
“This administration is engaging in administrative bias and openly using tax status threats as a political tool,” he concluded. “It has elevated intimidation to official policy.”
He added that Trump’s efforts have already triggered significant backlash and would likely not survive judicial scrutiny.