Baird

Appellee, as Special Agent of the United States Internal Revenue Service, sought by his petition the aid of the district court ( 28 U.S.C. §§ 1340 , 1345) to enforce a summons and compel testimony ( 26 U.S.C. § 7402 ) at an inquiry as to the identity of a person who might be liable to pay an internal revenue tax ( 26 U.S.C. §§ 7601-7605 ). He received such aid. The district court ordered appellant Alva C. Baird to answer a certain question. Baird refused to answer.

This is an appeal from a judgment of civil contempt and an order committing Baird to custody because of his refusal to answer that question (as to the identity of his clients), and a cross-appeal from that portion of the judgment which does not require appellant Baird to answer other questions with respect to the identity of other attorneys and accountants for said clients.

Specifically, appellant was asked, and refused to answer, as to the “identity and addresses of each and every person who employed appellant in connection with his transmittal of a cashier’s check in the sum of $12,706.85 to the Director of Internal Revenue at Baltimore, Md.” Appellant based his refusal on various grounds, but primarily on the…