Earlier this week, the New York Times was out with a BIG story that highly insinuated the IRS, possibly under direct pressure from then-President Donald Trump, ordered “rare, intensive audits” of James Comey and Andrew McCabe:
Breaking News: James Comey and Andrew McCabe, former FBI officials who Donald Trump wanted prosecuted, were both subjected to rare, intensive IRS audits. https://t.co/0TiHYvn7Uy
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 6, 2022
Here’s the opener:
Among tax lawyers, the most invasive type of random audit carried out by the I.R.S. is known, only partly jokingly, as “an autopsy without the benefit of death.”
The odds of being selected for that audit in any given year are tiny — out of nearly 153 million individual returns filed for 2017, for example, the I.R.S. targeted about 5,000, or roughly one out of 30,600.
One of the few who received a bureaucratic letter with the news that his 2017 return would be under intensive scrutiny was James B. Comey, who had been fired as F.B.I. director that year by President Donald J. Trump. Furious over what he saw as Mr. Comey’s lack of loyalty and his pursuit of the Russia investigation, Mr. Trump had continued to rail against him even after his dismissal, accusing him of treason, calling for his prosecution and publicly complaining about the money Mr. Comey received for a book after his dismissal.
The story was like a proverbial liberal moth to the liberal flame:
“Because of Donald Trump’s continued harping on these two individuals, it’s hard on the face of it to simply accept that this is random,” says @nytmike on the IRS audits of James Comey and Andrew McCabe. https://t.co/uQnXM3hfcn
— All In with Chris Hayes (@allinwithchris) July 8, 2022
And the IRS quickly asked the Treasury Department watchdog to investigate the audits:
WASHINGTON (AP) — IRS commissioner asks Treasury watchdog to probe audits of ex-FBI Director James Comey, ex-Deputy Director Andy McCabe.
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) July 7, 2022
But get this???
According to the Washington Post, Trump WAS at fault but it was because he fired the pair and this increased their income with book deals, speeches, etc., and “their taxes got much more interesting to the IRS”:
When Trump fired Comey & McCabe, they wrote books, gave speeches, went on TV — & their incomes shot up.
Their taxes got much more interesting to the IRS.
And it means the audits of their taxes probably are a big coincidence.
New from me + @jdawsey1:https://t.co/QVDD3TxFjB
— Jacob Bogage (@jacobbogage) July 8, 2022
LOL. So, the New York Times article is one gigantic “NEVER MIND!”?
When Trump fired Comey and McCabe, they became highly paid self-employed taxpayers — making them more likely to face the kind of audit they did, report @jacobbogage and @jdawsey1: https://t.co/WcdlteloqU
— Mike Madden (@MikeMadden) July 8, 2022
It was too good to pass up, however:
Trump talked about turning the IRS loose on his political adversaries. One former official said: “He would say this person should be investigated, this person should be audited. I never heard him give a direct order.”
— Mike Madden (@MikeMadden) July 8, 2022
Hmm. . .
Maybe we should investigate who ordered the Code Red on the Romeny aides in 2012?
In 2012, shortly after the election, two former Romney aides both went through enforcement audits. Former George W. Bush IRS boss Mark Everson talked a reporter out of writing about it: “Things happen, and in the political world they talk and conjure up conspiracies.”
— Mike Madden (@MikeMadden) July 8, 2022
We do love how it’s still the former president’s fault at the end of the day. Never change, guys:
Ultimately, it appears Trump WANTED to cause audits for Comey and McCabe, but former IRS officials say the audit they faced would be even harder than most to order up deliberately. Yet he may still have caused it by firing them and bumping their income. https://t.co/WcdlteloqU
— Mike Madden (@MikeMadden) July 8, 2022
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