We all know how much of a hate-hard-on former President Donald Trump had for former FBI Director James Comey and Andrew McCabe, his deputy who became acting director after Trump fired Comey. Wow, that's quite a sentence, but Trump is that kind of guy. According to a report from the New York Times, the IRS during Trump's one term in office conducted purportedly random, intensive audits, and somehow, the two former top FBI officials were part of the "random" audits.
Are we really expected to believe this?
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.
Of course, one of the "random" selections was Comey, who had been fired as FBI director that year by Trump. And the former President was furious with Comey over what he perceived as a lack of loyalty.
Mr. Comey was informed of the audit in 2019. Two years later, the I.R.S., still under the leadership of a Trump appointee after President Biden took office, picked about 8,000 returns for the same type of audit Mr. Comey had undergone from the 154 million individual returns filed in 2019 or about one in 19,250.
The Trump Justice Department later fired McCabe after its watchdog accused him of misleading internal FBI investigators.
Like Mr. Comey, he had come to be perceived as an enemy by Mr. Trump, who assailed him, accused him of treason, and raised questions about his finances long after pushing for his dismissal and prosecution, a pattern that continued even after Mr. Trump lost the 2020 election and began trying to overturn the results.
To Trump, loyalty is a one-way street. And he holds a grudge like no other.
"Maybe it's a coincidence or maybe somebody misused the I.R.S. to get at a political enemy," Comey told the Times. "Given the role Trump wants to continue to play in our country, we should know the answer to that question."
Comey received a $347 refund after the audit. Meanwhile, according to the outlet, McCabe, who echoed similar concerns about his audit, owed a small amount of money.
"The revenue agent I dealt with was professional and responsive," McCabe told the newspaper. "Nevertheless, I have significant questions about how or why I was selected for this."
Oh, pick me! Pick me! I can answer that.
UPDATE:
