Trump Pushed IRS Investigations Into Political Enemies Like James Comey, Andrew McCabe According to John Kelly

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Former President Donald Trump asked his former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly for IRS investigations into political enemies, including former FBI Director James Comey and former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, according to The New York Times.

Kelly told the Times in an article published on Sunday that, as the outlet put it, “Trump’s demands were part of a broader pattern of him trying to use the Justice Department and his authority as president against people who had been critical of him, including seeking to revoke the security clearances of former top intelligence officials.”

Trump denied Kelly’s claim about seeking the probes.

The Times reported in July that Comey and McCabe were picked, what the IRS claimed was arbitrary, for audits. Comey had his 2017 return audited, while McCabe had his 2019 return audited. Comey learned about his audit in 2019, while McCabe heard of his in 2021.

According to the Times:

Mr. Trump regularly made his demands in response to news reports in which he thought his perceived enemies made him look bad. The president would carry on about having them investigated to the point that Mr. Kelly thought he needed to tell the president that what he wanted was highly problematic, explaining, in sometimes heated conversations, that what Mr. Trump wanted was not just potentially illegal and immoral but also could blow back on him.

Mr. Trump would eventually let the idea go, Mr. Kelly said, but during subsequent outbursts about his enemies he would again bring up his desires to have them investigated.