Well now, here's a fascinating story. In 2017 Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey because he was pissed off over Comey's investigation of him. A year later Comey was chosen by the IRS as a lucky recipient of the rectal probe version of a tax audit, an audit so intensive and so rare that the odds of being chosen randomly are astronomical.
But still, stuff happens. Except in this case it happened again. In 2018 Trump fired Comey's assistant, Andrew McCabe, 26 hours before he qualified for his full pension. Two years later, McCabe was also chosen for a rectal probe audit.
What a coincidence! Needless to say, everyone denies everything. But if you believe that, I have a swamp and a bridge and some cryptocurrency you might be interested in. It sure sounds like the good old days of Richard Nixon made a comeback in the Trump era, doesn't it?
POSTSCRIPT: Even if the IRS finds nothing, these kinds of audits are expensive and time consuming. The New York Times reports that Comey had to spend $5,000 on accountants' fees to eventually learn that he had overpaid his taxes by $347. McCabe ended up paying a "small amount" of money.
Yeah, Richard Nixon was a great statesman in contrast to that former guy (the two time LOSER). No wonder the Justice Department hasn't charged him with anything yet ... he's criming faster than they (or anyone) can possibily investigate.
Nixon sold Rhodesia to China.
Normally I wouldn't reply to our resident anti-semite idiot troll, but this is has been dredged up from God-knows-what conspiratorial depths- it's absolutely bizarre.
Nixon resigned in 1974 (and actively aided Rhodesia while in office); the Rhodesian government fell in 1979; Zimbabwe did not develop close ties with China until it was shunned by the EU in 2003, and since then relations can be politely described as 'bumpy'.
The US recognizing Red China as the Real China in 197p inevitably led to the reform of the economy under Deng, then the Belt n' Road initiative by Xi.
It's always projection with these people. *Of course* Trump was throwing a fit about having to turn over his tax returns and screaming about witch hunts while having his own IRS audit his political enemies. Frankly I would have been surprised if he *hadn't* done something like this.
Also, what about Hunter's laptop, huh?
Honestly, if the IRS audits you and finds out you overpaid your taxes, you should be able to credit accountants and attorneys fees towards your next year’s return. It’s super shitty if you’ve done nothing wrong to be saddled with a bill that high.
But this is Comey we’re talking about, the guy who did as much as or more than anybody else to screw Hillary Clinton out of the presidency. So fuck him. He can pay the fees out of his book deal.
If Trump gets reelected, it'll be the Trump '25 Revenge Tour. He'll find a compliant AG and you can be sure, regardless of merit, Obama, Hillary Clinton, Liz Cheney, Fauci, and anyone else he blames will find themselves investigated and indicted for, well, something.
Indicted for being honest and patriotic. Yep, that's about right.
Re-elected to what???? Nursing home entertainment????
Astronomical? Indeed? Do I believe it was truly random? Hardly, but per: https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/06/politics/andrew-mccabe-james-comey-irs-tax-audit/index.html
High? Sure. Stratospheric? Perhaps, but not astronomical. Astronomical is something like the odds of a house being hit by a meteor.
And, given https://jabberwocking.com/the-irs-has-not-been-neglected-for-decades-quite-the-contrary/ I would think you would consider those one in 30,600 odds as being too high by far.
I had a free moment, so I updated my chart for IRS employee count and US population per IRS employee to include FY21: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QCDTT2M0-xb2KeLdmdVyj4nsAfnrRiPWV1B2-ZLH9qw/edit?usp=sharing
It's impossible to calculate accurately without knowing the selection criteria, but if the chance of one specific person being selected is 1 in 30,600, then the chance of two specific people being selected is, to a first approximation, the square of that number, or about 1 in 900 million. Which, according to some calculations (though the spread is very, very wide), is approximately the same as the chance of being hit by a meteorite.
True, but Kevin described the odds of one person being selected as astronomical.
“but Kevin described the odds…” such a whiner.
Stuff like this makes me almost hope that Trump has a medical condition that prevents him from running again.
Of course, it is unkind to wish ill on anyone, so lets just say that I hope he discovers that all along he had a great talent for medical and psychological research, quits politics, and comes up with a cure for, oh, Narcissism.
Personally, I hope he runs and is opposed in the primary by DeSantis. I want to see the Republican Party tear itself from the seams and get crushed to the ground. A DeSantis victory in a primary state and Trump claiming “the fix was in” and threatening a MAGA Party would help my wish come true.
Trump will turn in Bernie Sanders in Iowa, 2020, if Ronny D fraudulently wins a primary state or caucus.
*into, not in
“Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished”
sacre bleu
I'd like more clarity on timing of institution of McCabe's audit. Comey's was during the Trump era, but the WaPo story this morning suggested that McCabe's wasn't instituted until several months after Biden took office. If true, that makes little sense.
Partisans have a tendency to burrow into agencies. A nominal "staffer" can add a name to a list--then if it's removed after a review, that could be called out as "bias". And if the staffer is fired, that would be called out as a political hit just because that person was a Republican.
I don't know the exact situation going on, but it's strange enough to warrant an investigation.
It makes more sense if you consider the GOP’s history of burrowing deep into institutions and depositing stay behind agents. Remember all the early “scandals” of the Clinton administration like with his passport and the activities of Republican “werewolves” like Linda Tripp. At the point, there’s likely Republican loyalists in every agency of government.
+1 stash of porn in the west wing, 2001
Like Harkonnens sealed inside walls, they will send a dart when least expected.
The head of the IRS today is still the Trump appointed buddy Charles Rettig. If the head is rotten it is not hard to find compliant underlings to go along with whatever the boss demands.
thanks for pointing that out...now I'd expect a few more coincidences around election time....
As the t* maladministration staggered towards its end, a big deal was made about "burrowing in" as many partisans as possible, and displacing the professional "deep state bureaucrats."
Unless by some miraculous coincidence Comey and McCabe really were randomly selected, someone needs to go to jail for this. The IRS isn't a weapon that office holders are allowed to use to punish their political or personal enemies. The IRS needs to find out exactly how these people were singled out for audit.
They could start by looking at its head. The IRS is still led by Charles Rettig, who before being appointed by Trump as head of the IRS in 2018, was notorious for writing op-eds defending Trump's refusal to release his tax returns, and criticizing the IRS for targeting wealthy individuals for audits. He was also a business partner of Trump at one of his rental properties.
Did he? Of course He did.
Will there be any hard evidence? Of course not.
The Don always has a fall guy. He probably said something like how nice it would be if those disloyal FBI fucks get audited by the IRS, and his loyal ass kissing sycophants went off and made that happen.
We haven't found out from yet (Josh Marshall's network) who else was selected but didn't realize it was retaliatory until they saw today's news.
$5,000 for accountants for an audit sounds like a pretty light bill. Not sure what my point is. But I wish I paid only 5k for some of the more complex filings.