Trump's IRS subjected ex-FBI leaders James Comey, Andrew McCabe to very rare invasive audits


The Internal Revenue Service selected former FBI Director James Comey and his deputy, Andrew McCabe, for very rare, purportedly random audits of their 2017 and 2019 tax returns, The New York Times reports. "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 IRS targeted about 5,000, or roughly one out of 30,600."
Former President Donald Trump controversially sacked Comey and McCabe and has continued verbally attacked them ever since. The two career FBI officials were informed they had been selected for the extremely invasive National Research Program audits — known wryly among tax lawyers as "an autopsy without the benefit of death," the Times reports — in 2019 and early 2021, respectively, when the IRS was led by Trump's handpicked commissioner, Charles Rettig.
"The minuscule chances of the two highest-ranking FBI officials — who made some of the most politically consequential law enforcement decisions in a generation — being randomly subjected to a detailed scrub of their tax returns a few years after leaving their posts presents extraordinary questions," the Times reports. The biggest question is whether someone in the federal government or IRS somehow manipulated the process to target Trump's perceived enemies.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Comey and McCabe, who did not know each other had been audited until the Times told them, both said they have questions about why they were selected. The IRS said Rettig "is not involved in individual audits or taxpayer cases," and Trump told the Times he has "no knowledge of this" then criticized Comey and McCabe.
"Lightning strikes, and that's unusual, and that's what it's like being picked for one of these audits," former IRS commissioner John Koskinen tells the Times. "The question is: Does lightning then strike again in the same area? Does it happen? Some people may see that in their lives, but most will not — so you don't need to be an anti-Trumper to look at this and think it's suspicious." Read more at The New York Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
How generative AI is changing the way we write and speak
In The Spotlight ChatGPT and other large language model tools are quietly influencing which words we use
-
Can Nato keep Donald Trump happy?
Today's Big Question Military alliance pulls out all the stops to woo US president on his peacemaker victory lap
-
Easy Money: the Charles Ponzi Story – an 'enlightening' podcast
The Week Recommends Apple Original podcast explores the 'fascinating' tale of the man who gave the investment scam its name
-
The ambiguous legal state of ectopic pregnancy care
The Explainer Rep. Kat Cammack's accusations of 'fearmongering' are the latest example of how mixed messages are complicating the debate around abortion
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from
-
ICE: Targeting essential workers
Feature After a brief pause, the Trump administration resumes its mass deportation plan
-
'No Kings': A turning point for the resistance?
Feature Millions of Americans nationwide took to the streets to protest against the Trump administration
-
Trump: Making the military into a 'partisan militia'?
Feature Donald Trump held a military parade just days after sending troops to stop protests in Los Angeles
-
Judges order release of 2 high-profile migrants
Speed Read Kilmar Ábrego García is back in the US and Mahmoud Khalil is allowed to go home — for now
-
US assessing bomb damage to Iran nuclear sites
Speed Read Trump claims this weekend's US bombing obliterated Tehran's nuclear program, while JD Vance insists the US is 'not at war with Iran'
-
Is the US sliding into autocracy?
Talking Point Donald Trump's use of federal troops on home ground, dismissal of dissent and 'braggadocious' military posturing are all symptoms of a shifting political culture