IRS chief refers Comey, McCabe audit decision to inspector general for review
James Comey and Andrew McCabe are under investigation from the IRS, but that investigation has ruffled some feathers in the left, with Biden loyalists calling it foul play.
The Internal Revenue Service has asked a watchdog to investigate the decision to conduct rare tax audits of former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the agency announced Thursday.
“The IRS has referred the matter to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for review. IRS Commissioner (Charles) Rettig personally reached out to TIGTA after receiving a press inquiry,” the IRS said in a statement.
The agency is under scrutiny following a report from The New York Times on Wednesday that the IRS conducted intensive tax audits of McCabe and Comey, both fierce critics of former President Donald Trump, during his administration.
McCabe told CNN on Thursday that he thinks “referring it to the IG is the right step, but let’s see if the IG moves on it and then makes their findings public.”
It is totally legal and normal for Individuals to be selected by random for the audits. But the Times noted that the odds of any one person being selected for an audit by National Research Program in 2017 are about one in 30,600, raising questions about how two of Trump’s most visible critics were both selected.
McCabe, a CNN law enforcement analyst, had called for an investigation, telling CNN’s Laura Coates on “Don Lemon Tonight” that “people need to be able to trust the institutions of government and so that’s why there should be some — we should dig through this and find out what happened.”
The IRS on Thursday also reiterated its previous statement denying any “politically motivated audits” in a statement to CNN.
“Federal Privacy laws preclude us from discussing specific taxpayer situations. Audits are handled by career civil servants, and the IRS has strong safeguards in place to protect the exam process — and against politically motivated audits,” the agency said.
“It’s ludicrous and untrue to suggest that senior IRS officials somehow targeted specific individuals for National Research Program audits,” it added.
The referral also drew praise from the top Republican on the committee, Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, who said in a statement: “Rettig has stated unequivocally he has had no communication with President Trump, and the research audits are statistically generated. He has referred this issue to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and I support investigating all allegations of political targeting.”
The question, however is, if there’s nothing to hide, why is Comey and McCabe so spooked?
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