An independent investigation is underway into the tax audit of two opponents of former US President Donald Trump. The IRS announced this on Thursday.
Each year, the tax returns of several thousand Americans at random are subject to intense scrutiny by the IRS. In 2019, James Comey was the director of the FBI, until Trump fired him in 2017. Two years later, his deputy, Andrew McCabe’s personal finances, were turned upside down by the government.
Both men are on bad terms with Trump due to their role in investigating Russian influence in the 2016 US presidential election, which Trump won, after which he served as President of the United States from 2017 to 2021. The head of the IRS, Charles Rettig, was appointed by Trump in year 2018.
The The New York Times I mentioned Wednesday On the two’s audits, they calculated that the odds of getting a US tax audit in 2017 were 1 in 30,600. The newspaper then speculated that it was a coincidence that in two years, only two of the former president’s opponents had had to open their financial books to tax authorities.
Guarantees
The IRS seems to think so, too. A spokesperson for the agency told CNN that the IRS does not conduct “politically motivated audits” and that there are “strong safeguards” to ensure that the selection of candidates for a tax review cannot be influenced by foreigners.
Andrew McCabe called for an investigation in an interview with CNN on Wednesday. He believes that “people should be able to trust government institutions and that’s why this should be thoroughly investigated”. Thursday said to The New York TimesMaybe it was a coincidence, or maybe someone tricked the IRS into going after a political enemy. Given the role Trump wants to continue to play in our country, we need to know the answer to that question.”
“I don’t know anything about this,” Trump has now told the US media through his spokesperson.
