SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Rettig testifies before the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill on April 7, 2022 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
House Dem Urges Biden to Fire Trump-Picked IRS Chief Over 'Titanic' Audit Scandal
"If you think the audit of Donald Trump's purported enemies was a random act of God, then I have a bridge in North Jersey I'd like to sell you," said Rep. Bill Pascrell.
Jul 08, 2022
Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey demanded Thursday that President Joe Biden fire the Trump-picked Internal Revenue Service chief in the wake of revelations that the agency conducted rare and intensive audits of ex-FBI director James Comey and his deputy, Andrew McCabe.
"The IRS under Donald Trump's handpicked commissioner Charles Rettig has been one catastrophe after another."
"If you think the audit of Donald Trump's purported enemies was a random act of God, then I have a bridge in North Jersey I'd like to sell you," Pascrell, the chair of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, said in a statement, rejecting the tax agency's insistence that it is "ludicrous and untrue to suggest" Comey and McCabe were deliberately targeted by the exhaustive audits, which are supposed to be random.
"There may be no group on the face of this earth that deserves the benefit of the doubt less than Donald Trump and his government enablers," Pascrell continued. "The IRS under Donald Trump's handpicked commissioner Charles Rettig has been one catastrophe after another. The auditing of two law enforcement leaders at Trump's behest is a titanic scandal."
While welcoming news that a Treasury Department inspector general who oversees tax issues is set to investigate the audits--which were first reported earlier this week by the New York Times--Pascrell said that Biden should "fire Mr. Rettig immediately."
"If Mr. Rettig cared at all about this agency he would hand in his resignation today," Pascrell added. "And if he doesn't go, Mr. Rettig should be impeached."
Comey was notified of the IRS audit of his 2017 tax return in 2019, two years after Trump fired him. McCabe, whose 2019 tax return was the subject of close IRS scrutiny, was terminated by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2018.
As the Times noted, the odds of being selected for the intense IRS audit in a 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."
Rettig's four-year term is set to expire in November. Asked on Thursday whether Biden still has confidence that Rettig can properly run the IRS, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged the question and said, "His term is up in November."
"We don't comment on enforcement actions taken by the IRS," Jean-Pierre told reporters. "He is going to be up in November. So I will leave it there."
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey demanded Thursday that President Joe Biden fire the Trump-picked Internal Revenue Service chief in the wake of revelations that the agency conducted rare and intensive audits of ex-FBI director James Comey and his deputy, Andrew McCabe.
"The IRS under Donald Trump's handpicked commissioner Charles Rettig has been one catastrophe after another."
"If you think the audit of Donald Trump's purported enemies was a random act of God, then I have a bridge in North Jersey I'd like to sell you," Pascrell, the chair of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, said in a statement, rejecting the tax agency's insistence that it is "ludicrous and untrue to suggest" Comey and McCabe were deliberately targeted by the exhaustive audits, which are supposed to be random.
"There may be no group on the face of this earth that deserves the benefit of the doubt less than Donald Trump and his government enablers," Pascrell continued. "The IRS under Donald Trump's handpicked commissioner Charles Rettig has been one catastrophe after another. The auditing of two law enforcement leaders at Trump's behest is a titanic scandal."
While welcoming news that a Treasury Department inspector general who oversees tax issues is set to investigate the audits--which were first reported earlier this week by the New York Times--Pascrell said that Biden should "fire Mr. Rettig immediately."
"If Mr. Rettig cared at all about this agency he would hand in his resignation today," Pascrell added. "And if he doesn't go, Mr. Rettig should be impeached."
Comey was notified of the IRS audit of his 2017 tax return in 2019, two years after Trump fired him. McCabe, whose 2019 tax return was the subject of close IRS scrutiny, was terminated by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2018.
As the Times noted, the odds of being selected for the intense IRS audit in a 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."
Rettig's four-year term is set to expire in November. Asked on Thursday whether Biden still has confidence that Rettig can properly run the IRS, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged the question and said, "His term is up in November."
"We don't comment on enforcement actions taken by the IRS," Jean-Pierre told reporters. "He is going to be up in November. So I will leave it there."
Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell of New Jersey demanded Thursday that President Joe Biden fire the Trump-picked Internal Revenue Service chief in the wake of revelations that the agency conducted rare and intensive audits of ex-FBI director James Comey and his deputy, Andrew McCabe.
"The IRS under Donald Trump's handpicked commissioner Charles Rettig has been one catastrophe after another."
"If you think the audit of Donald Trump's purported enemies was a random act of God, then I have a bridge in North Jersey I'd like to sell you," Pascrell, the chair of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, said in a statement, rejecting the tax agency's insistence that it is "ludicrous and untrue to suggest" Comey and McCabe were deliberately targeted by the exhaustive audits, which are supposed to be random.
"There may be no group on the face of this earth that deserves the benefit of the doubt less than Donald Trump and his government enablers," Pascrell continued. "The IRS under Donald Trump's handpicked commissioner Charles Rettig has been one catastrophe after another. The auditing of two law enforcement leaders at Trump's behest is a titanic scandal."
While welcoming news that a Treasury Department inspector general who oversees tax issues is set to investigate the audits--which were first reported earlier this week by the New York Times--Pascrell said that Biden should "fire Mr. Rettig immediately."
"If Mr. Rettig cared at all about this agency he would hand in his resignation today," Pascrell added. "And if he doesn't go, Mr. Rettig should be impeached."
Comey was notified of the IRS audit of his 2017 tax return in 2019, two years after Trump fired him. McCabe, whose 2019 tax return was the subject of close IRS scrutiny, was terminated by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions in 2018.
As the Times noted, the odds of being selected for the intense IRS audit in a 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."
Rettig's four-year term is set to expire in November. Asked on Thursday whether Biden still has confidence that Rettig can properly run the IRS, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged the question and said, "His term is up in November."
"We don't comment on enforcement actions taken by the IRS," Jean-Pierre told reporters. "He is going to be up in November. So I will leave it there."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.