Do you believe that the Comey and McCabe audits were random?

I don’t. I think it is more likely that Trump made IRS do this. Trump treated everything as political. He had no respect for government integrity and impartiality.

update 11/17/22

It’s strange that this story about how Trump allegedly told his chief of staff to sic the IRS on Comey and McCabe – who were later hit with rare intrusive audits – doesn’t name his IRS appointee – Charles Rettig – or mention he finally stepped down Friday.https://t.co/GrF3mGgMr5
— Helen Kennedy 🌻 (@HelenKennedy) November 14, 2022

How unlikely were those Comey-McCabe audits? See for yourself. https://t.co/IRB2PbO1bU
— Post Politics (@postpolitics) July 7, 2022

If you have 154 million marbles (roughly the number of tax returns filed per year), and a few of them are red (including those of James Comey and Andrew McCabe), what are the chances you’ll draw two or more red marbles if you randomly draw a few thousand? https://t.co/64d3VyvevX
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 7, 2022

NEW:
IRS says for ‘17 it randomly picked 5,000 taxpayers out of 153 million who filed for a highly invasive audit
IRS says for ‘19 it randomly picked 8,000 out of 154 mil for same audit
Among those picked: former FBI dir Jim Comey and his dep. Andy McCabehttps://t.co/AV4MzEoze5
— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) July 6, 2022

Accountabilty: outrageous that both former FBI Director James Comey & Deputy Director Andrew McCabe were "randomly selected" for most intrusive form of IRS audits under leadership of Trump IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig – this screams for Congressional oversight investigation.
— Shanlon Wu (@shanlonwu) July 7, 2022

NEW: The head of the IRS asks a watchdog to investigate the decision to conduct rare tax audits of former FBI officials James Comey and Andrew McCabe https://t.co/iiJG9cx8VX
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 7, 2022

The news that James Comey and Andrew McCabe mysterious got the worst level of IRS audit isn't surprising on one level.

Authoritarians always turn the power of the state against their enemies.

Last week we learned Mark Meadows tried to get Bill Barr to go after @ProjectLincoln.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) July 7, 2022

Am I correct in understanding that Trump's own IRS commissioner was faster to call for an investigation into this potential abuse of power than the Democratic congressional leaders https://t.co/u6z4dOgQ8i
— Will Stancil (@whstancil) July 7, 2022

Here's my column on the tax audits targeting Comey and McCabe and why Trump's IRS Commissioner – who is still there – needs to be walked out of his office now: https://t.co/UlcTUESbv0 @MSNBC @MSNBCDaily
— Frank Figliuzzi (@FrankFigliuzzi1) July 9, 2022

Washington Post article on Republican governors who want to use pandemic aid for tax cuts

I appreciate @TonyRomm's coverage, but I'd make a strong distinction here:

Florida intends direct use of ARPA $ for an October gas tax holiday, potentially putting it on a collision course with Treasury.

Other states w/ tax cuts could afford it out of own-source revenue growth. https://t.co/X7id57YHXK
— Jared Walczak (@JaredWalczak) July 5, 2022

The wealthiest 1% avoid $163 billion in taxes

I’m sure Republicans will try to block this. They’re not big on enforcing laws if it affects their rich donors.

It's time we crack down on wealthy and corporate tax cheats who get away with not paying what they owe. I'm pushing for increased IRS investment in the reconciliation bill to boost enforcement and bring in billions so we can invest in American families.https://t.co/MOQXNCjz79
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) September 8, 2021

Richest Americans fail to pay $163 billion in taxes, Treasury estimates https://t.co/41iJX00cCK
— CBS News (@CBSNews) September 8, 2021

Alternative headline: U.S. taxpayers are paying $163 billion a year to fund billionaires' space races and fuel their super yachts. https://t.co/oGtWfn1SMx
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) September 8, 2021

well put

I’ll bet $163 billion is way less@than the actual number. https://t.co/1xD4bztGxS
— Nick Hanauer (@NickHanauer) September 8, 2021

Why Republicans don’t want IRS to enforce tax laws on rich people

They don’t want IRS to go after their donors.

2/ Charter Communications ($368,099)
Other notable public companies that donated $100K or more to the RSLC in 2020 cycle incl Comcast ($228,739), Citi ($226,906), Intuit ($225,065), Walmart ($186,386), GM ($185,598), & Amazon ($116,681).@JuddLegum https://t.co/jKxsaXCfEt
— Todd Gitlin (@toddgitlin) July 15, 2021

Conservatives don’t want to help IRS collect taxes from evaders

New: Leading conservative groups are telling Mitch McConnell not to sign onto a bill that increases *any* funding for IRS, per letter obtained by WaPo ahead of release. IRS budget cut ~20% amid tax evasion by wealthy@TonyRomm @yjtorbati https://t.co/3NMHZeMB6n
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) July 8, 2021

How much money could President Biden raise for infrastructure through tougher IRS enforcement? It's not clear https://t.co/1UFF6HPVD6
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) July 5, 2021

New w @alaynatreene: Republican senators are rallying against one of the main pay-fors in the bipartisan infrastructure deal — a $40 billion infusion to help the Internal Revenue Service collect $100 billion more in taxes. https://t.co/dl16lg7UAs
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) July 1, 2021

2. The @WSJEditorial board disagrees, and shockingly argues that *increasing deficits* is preferable to cracking down on tax cheats.

Here is why they are wrong….https://t.co/3nwfw5L3ag via @WSJOpinion
— Lawrence H. Summers (@LHSummers) June 28, 2021

Instead of raising gas taxes, we will pay for infrastructure by making tax cheats pay what they owe!https://t.co/jdZtERK38O
— Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) June 26, 2021

Can anyone explain why elected leaders would oppose funding the IRS so it can collect the money owed by people who have been evading taxes? Seems like a good idea to us.https://t.co/736MWG7ek1
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) May 24, 2021

Tax avoidance by the wealthy

From the mouth of the IRS Commissioner:

“If you’re a wealthy cheat in a partnership, your odds of getting audited are slightly higher than your odds of getting hit by a meteorite.”https://t.co/urV3VURKb5
— Brian Deese (@BrianDeeseNEC) June 12, 2021

55 of the largest corporations in the U.S. paid no federal corporate income taxes last year, but spent nearly $450 million on lobbying. Outrageous. We must get big money out of politics and create an economy that works for all of us, not just the top 1%. https://t.co/gPrnihl2ou
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) June 10, 2021

“My intention as the author of the 2017 tax reform was not that multibillionaires ought to pay no taxes,” said Senator Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvaniahttps://t.co/dICZYgN7Lk
— Richard Tofel (@dicktofel) June 10, 2021

The rich are different from you and me: They live lavishly off of income that doesn't get taxed.*https://t.co/FbuuyjCYdy

*Yes I am familiar with unrealized gains.
— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) June 8, 2021

How the richest people on Earth avoid paying taxes | Analysis by CNN's Zachary B. Wolf https://t.co/qkYpN4abqN
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 9, 2021

Wow. Wow wow wow. What a story.https://t.co/5oemh571cF pic.twitter.com/ihgRSf5JWH
— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) June 8, 2021

Our tax code is littered with loopholes. They’re so big that Jeff Bezos could drive an Amazon truck or fly a rocket ship through them. Let’s raise opportunity for everyone in America by making billionaires and giant corporations pay their fair share.https://t.co/BzB8zdsXdP
— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) June 13, 2021

Majority supports tax increases to pay for infrastructure

Republicans oppose tax increases to pay for infrastructure. Once again, they are blocking what the public wants.

Lots of discussion today on the Hill about how to pay for much needed infrastructure.

I'm just going to leave this here. pic.twitter.com/MwzLtUguNn
— Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) June 9, 2021

Do you support or oppose raising taxes on corporations in order to pay for improvements to the nation's infrastructure?

Support 61%
Oppose 32%

(Quinnipiac U. Poll, 5/18-24/21)https://t.co/K3LiwFoewK
— PollingReport.com (@pollreport) May 26, 2021

Morning Consult poll:

65% of registered voters support funding Biden's infrastructure plan through higher taxes on corporations.

That includes 42% of Republican voters.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 9, 2021

Buried in the new Morning Consult/Politico poll is an eye-popping statistic: Voters by a 2-to-1 margin prefer a $3 trillion infrastructure bill that includes tax hikes on $400K+ and corporations over one that excludes those tax hikes.
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) March 31, 2021

Majorities of Americans support raising taxes on corporations and high-income individuals to pay for Biden’s plans to spend more money on infrastructure, health care and child care, according to a new Monmouth University poll. https://t.co/vBtSAfI425
— Eugene Scott (@Eugene_Scott) April 26, 2021

A new poll found that most people support Biden's larger infrastructure plan funded through raising corporate taxes, as opposed to the smaller GOP plan funded through user fees, which would affect everyone, including low-income working people.https://t.co/EDg4gywXpT
— Truthout (@truthout) June 9, 2021

BREAKING: Rich people rule out tax hikes on rich people. https://t.co/3qfDIVWQNr
— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) June 10, 2021

Pro Publica shows that billionaires don’t pay their share of taxes

Republicans don’t want to raise taxes on rich people. I doubt this will change their mind.

The bottom line – see #6

6/ Here’s the summary: A typical American with $70K in income will pay about 14% in federal income taxes. The top marginal income tax rate is 37%.

The top 25? They paid 3.4% of their wealth growth in 2014 to 2018.
— Jesse Eisinger (@eisingerj) June 8, 2021

The origin of The Tax Files: Someone sent ProPublica "the private tax data of some of our nation's richest citizens." The publication doesn't know the identity of the source. "We did not solicit the info." Here's the editor's note about why it's newsworthy https://t.co/HL2Dl1B1Sh
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 8, 2021

NEW: Today @ProPublica presents The Secret IRS Files. We have obtained a vast trove of never-before-seen tax data on thousands of the richest Americans covering more than 15 years. (THREAD)https://t.co/M9XrLLoihT
— Jesse Eisinger (@eisingerj) June 8, 2021

The 25 richest Americans including Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg and Elon Musk paid relatively little — and sometimes nothing — in federal income taxes between 2014 and 2018, according to an analysis of IRS filings by ProPublica. https://t.co/IsZyRbMT53
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 8, 2021

A day after Jeff Bezos proudly announced that he intends to take a trip to space this summer, ProPublica has shed some light on how he and other U.S. billionaires have managed to amass such a ridiculous amount of wealth https://t.co/qkzf3gMWz2
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) June 8, 2021

The rich really are different from you and me: They’re better at dodging the taxman.

Overall, the richest 25 Americans pay less in tax — 15.8% of adjusted gross income — than many ordinary workers do, once you include taxes for Social Security, Medicare https://t.co/FnsjscteR7
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) June 8, 2021

IRS records show wealthiest Americans, including Bezos and Musk, paid little in income taxes, report says https://t.co/vTbXFvqMsE
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) June 8, 2021

Unpaid federal taxes could exceed a trillion per year

The IRS chief warned that unpaid taxes could exceed $1 trillion dollars a year. That’s way up from official estimates. The IRS ought to address wealthy Americans purposefully evading their taxes. It will take resources & backbone, but let’s make enforcement fair & effective.
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 14, 2021

The amount of taxes going uncollected by the federal government could be as much as $1 trillion or more per year https://t.co/KacKNS3Xzs
— POLITICO (@politico) April 13, 2021

The GOP have starved the IRS to deplete its ability to catch wealthy tax cheats. IRS Commissioner Rettig and I agreed: additional mandatory funding would help the IRS enforce the tax laws for the ultra-rich already on the books. I’m working on legislation to do exactly that. pic.twitter.com/0TmKEDglsY
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) April 14, 2021

A jaw-dropping number out of a congressional hearing today: $1 TRILLION in taxes go unpaid to the IRS each year. The last official estimate was that the tax gap was $441 billion over a three year period. https://t.co/G4ob7s1P9k
— Laura Davison (@laurapdavison) April 13, 2021

Stars are aligning to rebuild the IRS & address tax gap. Here’s our take on need for multi-year discretionary cap adjustment, & a multiyear mandatory funding stream to help pay for recovery legislation– to be combined with increased reporting requirementshttps://t.co/5fYpJRhwhQ
— Chuck Marr (@ChuckCBPP) April 13, 2021

Morning Consult poll: “More Than 3 in 5 Voters Support Corporate Tax Hike to Fund Biden’s Infrastructure Plan”

More Than 3 in 5 Voters Support Corporate Tax Hike to Fund Biden’s Infrastructure Plan

In spite of this, I expect it to get no support from congressional Republicans. I guess they’re fine with big companies that pay zero taxes.

Quinnipiac poll on Biden's infrastructure plan:
Support: 44%
Oppose: 38%

Same poll after respondents are told the plan would raise taxes on corporations:
Support: 53%
Oppose: 39%
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen) April 14, 2021

Luster may come off as things move from the abstract to hard trade-offs of actual legislating, but structural decision to pair hard infrastructure w/ corp pay-fors was politically shrewd. Big biz already on its heels, now in a box on what's ostensibly their biggest priority. https://t.co/JLM8ZpwCvq
— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) April 14, 2021