Ex-FBI leaders Comey and McCabe faced IRS audits

Two former top FBI officials were selected to undergo rare and intensive IRS audits. Former FBI Director James Comey and Andrew McCabe, who served as acting director for several months after Comey was fired, were picked to have their 2017 and 2019 tax returns examined, respectively, the New York Times revealed on Wednesday. The IRS says the audits are random, but the fact that two high-level FBI officials reviled by former President Donald Trump were selected led to questions about the program.

Comey and his wife, Patrice, were found to have overpaid their 2017 federal income taxes and received a $347 refund, per the report. McCabe told the publication that he and his wife, Jill, ended up paying the federal government a small amount of money they owed and said he believes the audit has been concluded. The Comeys paid roughly $5,000 in accountant fees and gave the IRS financial documents as well as a Christmas card to show they had children claimed as dependents, the report noted.

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The report explores the question of whether there was any selective targeting involved in a program the IRS says is random, noting that the IRS commissioner, Charles Rettig, is a Trump appointee and that Trump has been heavily critical of both FBI veterans. The odds of being targeted by the IRS, the report noted as an example, was roughly 1 in 30,000 among the 153 million 2017 individual tax returns filed. The report claimed that neither Comey nor McCabe knew the other had been audited until told by a reporter for the news outlet.

(AP Photos)

“Commissioner Rettig is not involved in individual audits or taxpayer cases; those are handled by career civil servants,” the IRS said in a statement. “As I.R.S. commissioner, he has never been in contact with the White House — in either administration — on I.R.S. enforcement or individual taxpayer matters. He has been committed to running the I.R.S. in an impartial, unbiased manner from top to bottom.”

These National Research Program audits pick taxpayers via a statistical software program that “does not entail employees manually selecting individuals for examination,” the agency said. The New York Times said it obtained related documents through a Freedom of Information Act request.

“Federal privacy laws preclude us from discussing specific taxpayer situations,” the IRS said, according to the Hill. “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 statement continued. “It’s ludicrous and untrue to suggest that senior IRS officials somehow targeted specific individuals for National Research Program audits.”

The IRS, when pressed on “questions” raised by the Comey and McCabe audits, further stated that when any allegations of wrongdoing are levied, the inspector general for tax administration in the Treasury Department is notified “for further review,” the New York Times report said.

“I don’t know whether anything improper happened, but after learning how unusual this audit was and how badly Trump wanted to hurt me during that time, it made sense to try to figure it out,” Comey said in a statement. “Maybe it’s a coincidence or maybe somebody misused the I.R.S. to get at a political enemy. Given the role Trump wants to continue to play in our country, we should know the answer to that question.”

McCabe was quoted as saying, “The revenue agent I dealt with was professional and responsive. … Nevertheless, I have significant questions about how or why I was selected for this.”

During a CNN appearance on Wednesday, McCabe said he supported an investigation. “People need to be able to trust the institutions of government … so that’s why there should be some — we should dig through this and find out what happened,” he said.

Rettig was allowed to remain as IRS commissioner by President Joe Biden. The audit of the Comeys began in November 2019, and the audit of the McCabes started in October 2021, after Trump left office, the report stated.

Although his term is set to expire in November, news of the audits prompted fresh calls for Rettig to be fired. “I’ve repeatedly called for trump IRS boss Charles Rettig to be fired. Here are yet more accusations of rampant corruption coming from his office. Fire Rettig,” tweeted Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-NJ), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee’s oversight subcommittee.

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Comey was fired by Trump in 2017, leading to the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller to lead the special counsel investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

McCabe was fired from the FBI in 2018 hours before his retirement. In 2019, McCabe filed a wrongful termination lawsuit and last year won back his full pension as part of a settlement with the Justice Department. The report noted that around the same time the lawsuit was settled, McCabe was notified of the IRS audit, and he was told it was completed last month.

Asked by the New York Times to respond to the news of the audits, Trump, through a spokesperson, told the news outlet, “I have no knowledge of this.” The report also noted that he pointed to Justice Department inspector general reviews that were critical of Comey and McCabe.