In response to a story that raised concerns about political bias, the IRS has asked the IRS to evaluate the tax audits it conducted on former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
According to the agency, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, who was appointed to the position during the Trump administration, referred the situation to the Treasury Department’s inspector general for review.
Although the agency maintains that such audits are random and extremely rare, concerns have been raised about whether Comey and McCabe were singled out because of their criticism of former President Donald Trump.
In a response to the Washington Examiner, the IRS said, “The IRS has forwarded the matter to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for consideration.”
“Career civil servants who specialize in audits conduct them, and the IRS has significant safeguards in place to protect the audit process and deter politically influenced audits.”
For his 2017 tax filings, an audit of Comey and his wife reportedly started in November 2019.
The IRS determined the couple overpaid their income taxes, and the New York Times said they were given a refund as a result. When questioned about the referral by CNN, Comey remained silent.
According to reports, the audit of McCabe and his wife over his 2019 returns apparently began in October 2021, shortly after Trump left the White House.
The McCabes had a tiny debt to the federal government, but McCabe told CNN that they now feel the audit is completed.
The referral to the inspector general was praised by him as being “the correct step” after he had demanded a probe. He insisted that the results should be made public, according to CNN.
According to the agency, the National Research Program of the IRS, which chooses subjects at random using a software program, appears to have audited both Comey and McCabe.
The initiative aims to assess the level of national tax compliance. Rettig had no part in choosing the candidates, according to the IRS, and employees at the agency do not actively choose people for investigation.
In a response to the Washington Examiner, the IRS said, “The IRS has forwarded the matter to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for consideration.”
“Career civil servants who specialize in audits conduct them, and the IRS has significant safeguards in place to protect the audit process and deter politically influenced audits.”
For his 2017 tax filings, an audit of Comey and his wife reportedly started in November 2019.
The IRS determined the couple overpaid their income taxes, and the New York Times said they were given a refund as a result. When questioned about the referral by CNN, Comey remained silent.
According to reports, the audit of McCabe and his wife over his 2019 returns apparently began in October 2021, shortly after Trump left the White House.
The McCabes had a tiny debt to the federal government, but McCabe told CNN that they now feel the audit is completed.
The referral to the inspector general was praised by him as being “the correct step” after he had demanded a probe. He insisted that the results should be made public, according to CNN.
According to the agency, the National Research Program of the IRS, which chooses subjects at random using a software program, appears to have audited both Comey and McCabe.
The initiative aims to assess the level of national tax compliance. Rettig had no part in choosing the candidates, according to the IRS, and employees at the agency do not actively choose people for investigation.
The agency argued that the idea that top IRS personnel in some way singled out certain people for National Research Program audits was absurd and incorrect.
Federal privacy regulations prevent the government from “discussing individual taxpayer situations,” the organization added.
According to the New York Times, there was a 1 in 30,600 chance that you would be one of the roughly 5,000 people who were arbitrarily chosen for an audit out of the 153 million who paid income taxes in 2017.
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Trump’s spokesman denied being aware of the audits of his two rivals. The former president has been criticized by Comey and McCabe in numerous media appearances and even in books they have written.
Trump dismissed Comey in 2017, telling NBC’s Lester Holt that the investigation into alleged Russian influence in the 2016 election was on his mind at the time.
Later, he denied terminating Comey due to the Russia investigation. Robert Mueller, a former director of the FBI, was appointed as a special counsel to look into allegations of coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia as well as whether Trump and his aides obstructed justice after Comey was fired.
