Kashi Way, Latest Tax Court Judge, Has Tax Exempt Chops. But Evasive on Conservation Easements

Kashi Way is the Tax Court’s most recent FNG.  The Senate confirmed his nomination last week.  He’s done some exempt orgs work throughout his long years of laying low in DC.  But I am not so sure he’s all-American.  Turns out he might be the kind of green energy nut the Republicans have been warning us about when they talk about China.  A bow-tied fifth columnist, maybe. Way has been taking public transportation and riding scooters to work nearly his entire career, according to a post discovered deep in the dark web.  Easier to stop and take pictures, I bet.  The human powered comrade scooters, not the gas powered scooters Americans prefer.  There is a picture of him surveilling the Supreme Court on what looks suspiciously like a Chinese-made scooter even the Dear Leader would be proud of:

                                            People say there is probably a Little Red Book in the backpack.

I read his responses to Senate Finance’s confirmation questions.  Most were the standard, hardly believable “I’ll be fair and impartial” yadda yadda nominees are so good at when being evasive.  All militaries have courses on escape and evasion, by the way. It’s as though his lips were moving but he didn’t say much. Way used more sentences than the average to say . . . well, absolutely nothing about conservation easements:

Senator Steve Daines

Question 1: As of April 2024, the US Tax Court had a backlog of 750 conservation easement cases. Last Congress, my bill, the Charitable Conservation Easement Program Integrity Act, was signed into law to provide clarity on a number of these cases. Since then, a number of cases have been decided with differing outcomes, setting various precedents, and a large backlog remains. If confirmed to the US Tax Court, how will you approach these cases and help clear the backlog?

Answer: I believe taxpayers deserve certainty and efficiency in our system of taxation. If confirmed, I will impartially apply the various precedents to the facts of any conservation easement cases that come before me. As more cases are decided, the law should become more settled, allowing for cases to be resolved more quickly. I would also encourage the parties to work cooperatively so that issues may be resolved without the need for a trial.

Yadda yadda, like I said. I’m just kidding around but maybe this post will go viral. Congratulations Comrade Judge Way.  

darryll k. jones