Hey shitbags, how does it feel to be on the receiving end of an investigation? Sucks to be you.
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.
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.