A federal judge has rejected Rep. Phil Hart’s legal defense that as a lawmaker he should be given special consideration in his legal dealings with the IRS.

Hart shared his thoughts on his tax situation on his campaign website earlier today. An excerpt is published below with a link to the site.

 Today, U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge rejected Hart’s motion to dismiss a complaint the government filed against him to recover $550,000 in unpaid federal taxes and related penalties.

Lodge also determined Hart cannot claim legislative immunity as a legal defense and would not grant him additional time to respond to requests for discovery. Hart had requested he be given 30 days past the last day of the Legislative session to comply. The session ended Friday. The judge gave Hart until April 12 to respond.

Lodge further ordered a November federal trial date, to avoid interference with next year’s Legislative session.

Hart has a concurrent state income tax struggle in Idaho and made similar legal arguments before Idaho Supreme Court judges on Monday.

Copies of the federal judge’s orders issued today can be downloaded from this page.

In a letter posted earlier today on Hart’s campaign website, the lawmaker accuses the media of inaccurately portraying him as a tax dodger, and says that his tax issues are the ongoing result of IRS retaliation for a book he wrote in 2000 detailing the history of the nation’s income tax.

The following excerpt is from the letter signed by Hart. It can be read in its entirety here: http://hart4legislature.com/a-vote-for-phil-hart-is-a-vote-for-your-constitutional-rights/

“The media has distorted my battles with the IRS – and framed me as a tax-cheat. The entire sage is quite complicated, but the short story is this: As a result of the education I gained from researching and studying the income tax issue, I wrote a book about my findings back in 2000. It is 450 pages in length. I just released a DVD based on this book. The book and the DVD are titled “Constitutional Income.” As the author, I function only as a historian who brings forward the history of the income tax. Our nation is based on the rule of law and legislative intent means everything but there are people who do not want this history known because it challenges the scope and the methods of what is now being done.

The IRS audited me – no surprise there. But what was a surprise was their demand that I turn over all the names, addresses, phone numbers and credit card numbers of everyone who bought the book. I’m told this was the first time in American history that this ever happened. I was defended pro bono by the Center for Individual Rights; a Freedom of Speech law firm which helped me win the case. As a result of this case, the IRS had to publish a white paper setting new nationwide policy protecting this First Amendment right.

However, the IRS auditors struck back and denied all of my business deductions for 8 years. I was not allowed to write off a single postage stamp or paperclip for 8 years. Impossible and illegal, as Congress provided for these deductions in statute – these are not discretionary. I have paid over $150,000 in state and federal income taxes covering those years on taxable income of $449,000. However, the government claims I owe $740,000 – this makes my tax rate 165%, which is mathematically impossible to pay.

This was my punishment for not turning the names and their private information over to the IRS, for those who purchased my book. Had I rolled over, you never would have heard of it but I would have put my readers in harms way. The whole experience gives me a pretty skeptical bias against bureaucrats when it comes to my work as a legislator. The famous French philosopher Voltaire said, “It is dangerous to be right, when the government is wrong.” If there is no pushback when the government is wrong, where does that road lead us? I plan on continuing to push back, and I hope you will support me in that effort.”