Washington — Thursday’s announcement by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), indicated that the IRS commissioner has requested the Internal Watchdog of the tax agency to investigate the rare audits of James Comey, former FBI Director, and Andrew McCabe Deputy Director, who were both frequent targets of President Donald Trump.
Jodie Reynolds, spokesperson for the IRS, stated in a statement that Charles Rettig (the IRS’s leader) “personally reached out to the Treasury Inspector General For Tax Administration” after being questioned by the press about the audits against McCabe and Comey.
Reynolds stated that Reynolds had referred the matter from the IRS to the Treasury Inspector General of Tax Administration for review.
Rettig requested the request after McCabe and Comey were reported by the New York Times Wednesday as being selected to perform intensive audits on randomly selected taxpayers under the National Research Program.
According to the Times Comey was informed of the IRS audit of 2017 returns in 2019, while McCabe received information about his audit in October 2021, focusing on his 2019 returns.
Trump hurled at McCabe and Comey during their time at the FBI, where they were investigating Russian meddling in 2016’s election. In 2017, Comey was fired by Trump amid the Russia probe. McCabe was fired by Jeff Sessions, the then-attorney general, just 26 hours before he was due to retire and receive his full retirement pension.
McCabe was ousted before the Justice Department inspector general report was released. It alleged that McCabe lied multiple times under oath about sharing information with media regarding an investigation into Clinton Foundation. McCabe claimed that he was authorized to release the information by the FBI.
McCabe was cleared by the Justice Department last year and he can now receive his pension.
According to the IRS, the IRS stated that career civil servants are responsible for audits and that the agency has strong safeguards in place “to protect the exam process and against politically motivated audits.”
Reynolds stated that Reynolds was adamant that it is absurd and false to suggest senior IRS officials targeted individuals for National Research Program audits.
According to a spokesperson for Rep. Bill Pascrell (chair of the Oversight Subcommittee), the investigation by the agency’s inspector-general is being conducted. Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat called for Rettig’s resignation, or his own resignation, to his position.
He stated in a statement that he believed the audit of Donald Trump’s purported enemies was a random act by God.
Scott MacFarlane and Gillian Morley contributed to this report.
