IRS internal watchdog to review rare audits of Comey and McCabe

Washington — The commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has asked the tax agency's internal watchdog to examine the events surrounding rare audits of former FBI Director James Comey and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who both were frequent targets of former President Donald Trump, the agency said Thursday.

IRS spokesperson Jodie Reynolds said in a statement that Charles Rettig, who leads the IRS, "personally reached out" to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration after receiving a press inquiry regarding the audits targeting Comey and McCabe.

"The IRS has referred the matter to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for review," Reynolds said. 

The request from Rettig, who took the helm of the IRS under Trump in 2018 and has continued in the role under President Biden, comes after the New York Times reported Wednesday that both Comey and McCabe were selected for the rare, intensive audits of randomly selected taxpayers under the National Research Program. 

Rep. Richard Neal, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, has also requested a full investigation into the allegations. 

"The American people need to have full faith in the IRS and the fair administration of our tax laws," Neal said in a statement. "I am very concerned about the impact on public confidence resulting from allegations that the IRS has been used to exact revenge on political enemies."

According to the Times, Comey was told of the IRS audit of his 2017 return in 2019, while McCabe learned of his audit, focusing on his 2019 return, in October 2021.

Both Comey and McCabe came under heated attacks by Trump while at the FBI over its investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The former president fired Comey in 2017 amid the Russia probe. Then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe in 2018, just 26 hours before he was set to retire and receive his full pension.

McCabe's ouster came before the release of a Justice Department inspector general report that alleged he lied under oath multiple times about sharing information with the media about an investigation into the Clinton Foundation. McCabe, though, argued he was authorized by the FBI to disclose the information.

The Justice Department cleared McCabe last year, allowing him to get his pension. 

The IRS said career civil servants handle the audits, and the agency "has strong safeguards in place to protect the exam process — and against politically motivated audits."

"It's ludicrous and untrue to suggest that senior IRS officials somehow targeted specific individuals for National Research Program audits," Reynolds said.

In addition to the probe from the agency's inspector general, the Ways and Means Committee is considering its own an investigation, according to a spokesperson for Rep. Bill Pascrell, chair of the panel's Oversight Subcommittee. Pascrell, a New Jersey Democrat, called on Rettig to leave his post, either through termination by Mr. Biden, his own resignation or impeachment.

"If you think the audit of Donald Trump's purported enemies was a random act of God then I have a bridge in North Jersey I'd like to sell you," he said in a statement. 

Gillian Morley and Scott MacFarlane contributed to this report.

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