“It just defies logic to think that there was no other factor involved,” McCabe told CNN’s Laura Coates in “Don Lemon Tonight” of his supposedly random selection for the audit, which he characterized as an “incredibly rigorous “and” nervous. ” wrapping process.
“I think it’s a reasonable question. I think it should be investigated. People should be able to trust government institutions and that’s why there should be, we should go deeper into that and find out what it has happened, ”he continued. .
The New York Times reported Wednesday before the IRS conducted intensive tax audits of McCabe and Comey, both fierce critics of former President Donald Trump. The Times noted that the odds of a person being selected for the audit are about one in 30,600, which raised questions about how two of Trump’s most visible critics were selected.
McCabe told CNN he was unaware of Comey’s audit when he received a warning from the IRS.
Comey told the Times that his audit, which was reported in 2019 when Trump was in office, concluded that he and his wife overpaid their 2017 federal income taxes and received a refund. of $ 347. McCabe said his 2021 audit, which focused on his 2019 return, found that he and his wife had owed a small amount of money for a “supervision,” which they paid for.
Charles Rettig, a Trump nominee, has led the IRS since 2018. The agency said in a statement to the Times that it has no role in selecting candidates for audits.
McCabe, a CNN police analyst, was one of the central leaders in Russia’s first investigation that prosecuted Trump’s advisers and questions about whether the then president had obstructed justice. In March 2018, two days before McCabe’s scheduled retirement date, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired him from the FBI. Trump and Comey had an equally tumultuous relationship. With a startling move, Trump fired Comey as director of the FBI in May 2017, prompting the appointment of a special attorney. Trump has called Comey a “liar” and a “filter” and has suggested his actions were treacherous. Comey has criticized Trump as a stain on American democracy.
“I don’t know if anything inappropriate happened, but after finding out how unusual this audit was and how Trump wanted to hurt me during that time, it made sense to try to figure it out,” Comey said in a statement to the Times. . “Maybe it’s a coincidence or maybe someone misused the IRS to attack a political enemy. Given the role Trump wants to continue playing in our country, we should know the answer to that question.”
How taxpayers are selected for intensive audits is not known outside the IRS, the Times noted.
The IRS denied any “politically motivated audit” in a statement to CNN on Wednesday evening. “Federal privacy laws prevent us from discussing specific taxpayer situations. Audits are handled by career officials and the IRS has strong safeguards to protect the review process and against politically motivated audits,” the statement said.
“It is ridiculous and false to suggest that senior IRS officials somehow targeted specific people for National Research Program audits,” the tax agency added.
CNN has contacted Trump representatives to comment. The former president, through a spokesman, said in a statement to the Times: “I am not aware of it.”
McCabe told CNN in a statement that “while the IRS investigator I dealt with was professional and sensitive at all times, I have questions about how I was selected for this audit.”
Gabby Orr and Mary Kay Mallonee of CNN contributed to this report.