Caterpillar Probe Adds New Chapter to Old Tax Case, Explained

Senate Democrats are demanding new details from the Department of Justice in a long-running political interference probe, in which they allege Trump-era officials interceded to protect Caterpillar from a whopping $2.3 billion tax-and-penalty bill.

Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and member Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) say former Attorney General William Barr was among high-level Justice Department officials who engaged in “egregious political interference” to protect Barr’s former client, the industrial equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc.

A recent letter to current Attorney General Merrick Garland contends Barr’s alleged interference could have prevented the investigation into a massive tax scheme case—an ...