IRS training video spoofing 'Apprentice' draws Republican fire

Kim Dixon
Potential contestants show their arm bands before they interview in New York February 4, 2005, for the new "Apprentice" television shows. REUTERS/Chip East

By Kim Dixon WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the House of Representatives on Friday released another embarrassing U.S. Internal Revenue Service training video, this one a spoof of "The Apprentice" television program that shows IRS workers coming up with ideas to save money on conferences. The House Ways and Means Committee released the 2011 parody of the show starring real estate mogul Donald Trump after a report released in June detailed lavish spending at a 2010 IRS conference, including a video parody of the television show "Star Trek." The four-minute "Apprentice" spoof cost $10,000 to produce, Republicans on the committee said. "Months ago, I demanded the IRS come clean about the time and money it spent to produce these frivolous videos," said Representative Charles Boustany, chairman of a Ways and Means subcommittee probing IRS spending. "While we may have no answers, we do have an endless supply of what appears to be the IRS's idea of entertainment," he said. IRS acting chief Daniel Werfel apologized in May ahead of the report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration that detailed the 2010 conference with the "Star Trek" parody. On Friday, IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge said the "Apprentice" video was "from a prior era and does not reflect the stringent policies IRS now has in place to ensure that all training videos are made at the lowest possible cost and with appropriate content." "Simply put, this video would not be made at the IRS today," Eldridge said. Rules put in place this year cut spending on videos to an estimated $139,000 from $2.2 million in fiscal 2012. The IRS is still recovering from a separate inspector general report in May that criticized the agency for inappropriately scrutinizing Tea Party and other conservative-leaning political groups seeking tax-exempt status. The IRS Tea Party controversy has lost some of its punch in recent months amid revelations that IRS workers also used key words associated with liberal-leaning political groups. The inspector general is now examining that issue. (Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Vicki Allen)