Opinion ID: 567990
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Oral Disclosures

Text: 25 Diamond next argues that it was clearly erroneous for the district court to find that Agent Jay did not make any unauthorized oral disclosures of return information to Diamond's patients. Diamond's argument involves alleged disclosures to three individuals. 26 Diamond first contends that Agent Jay orally disclosed return information to Diamond's ex-wife and a professional acquaintance of Diamond's. The trial court found that although Agent Jay did have conversations with these individuals, he made no oral disclosures of tax return information to them. This conclusion troubles us, but we nonetheless affirm the district court. 27 Under section 6103(b)(2), disclosure of a taxpayer's name and the fact that he is under investigation constitute, by definition, disclosure of tax return information. In light of this provision, we agree with Diamond that it would be virtually impossible for an IRS agent to conduct any sort of investigation which involved contacting third parties without disclosing return information. Despite our agreement with Diamond, however, we do not find the district court's ruling that no unauthorized disclosures were made to Diamond's ex-wife or acquaintance to be clearly erroneous, because Diamond offers no proof that any unauthorized disclosures were in fact made. Since neither the record nor Diamond provide any evidence that unnecessary disclosures were made to these two individuals, we affirm the district court's decision on this issue. 28 Diamond also claims that Agent Jay made improper oral disclosures to one of Diamond's patients. This patient testified that on at least two occasions, a man identifying himself as an IRS official contacted her by phone, told her that Diamond had committed a crime, threatened her with an audit if she did not produce the information requested in the circular letter, and suggested that she would be asking for trouble if she informed Diamond of the call. The trial court did not believe this testimony, accepting instead Agent Jay's testimony that he did not make any oral disclosure to the patient-witness. 29 Under a standard established by the Supreme Court, to find the district court clearly erroneous, we must possess the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed, Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 573, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 1511, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985), and be mindful that due regard shall be given to the opportunity of the trial court to judge of the credibility of the witnesses. Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a). We believe that the record adequately supports the district court's credibility findings. For instance, the patient could not provide the name of the agent who contacted her, and she conceded that she could not identify Agent Jay's voice over the telephone. She further admitted that she did not even recall the alleged conversations until Diamond's attorney contacted her about them two years after they allegedly occurred. The district court's ruling on this issue therefore is not clearly erroneous.