US House, Senate Finance Committees to hold hearings questioning IRS chief over audits of former FBI officials

The finance committees of the United States Congress will be holding hearings this month surrounding the revelation of IRS audits targeting former FBI officials. The House and Senate committees will be questioning the IRS head over how the former FBI officials were targeted for audits.

Reuters reports that the US Internal Revenue Service and lawmakers said Monday that the finance committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate would be questioning the IRS over the circumstances of tax audits on former FBI director James Comey and deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe.

Comey and McCabe both drew the ire of the Trump administration and were frequently targeted by former President Donald Trump for their roles in the agency’s investigation into the 2016 elections and the Trump campaign’s alleged links to Russia.

The Senate Finance Committee will be holding a closed-door hearing on July 26, said committee chair Senator Ron Wyden. The House Ways and Means Committee will also be holding a similar closed-door hearing as the IRS is not allowed to publicly disclose details of individual tax returns.

This comes as the IRS chief asked the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration last week to launch an investigation into how both former FBI officials were chosen for the National Research Program audits, also known as “audits from hell” by some professionals due to its intensive nature.

“Commissioner Rettig always welcomes a chance to meet with members on tax issues and routinely flags areas of potential concern for key leaders of congressional oversight committees,” said IRS spokesperson Jodie Reynolds.

Meanwhile, a group of Democratic lawmakers Tuesday asked customs officials to explain why three major Chinese solar energy companies were not excluded from a list of importers whose products are banned under the new law aiming to crack down on forced labor.

The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act came into effect in June to cut US purchases of products from China’s Xinjiang province, where Chinese authorities are believed to have set up prison camps for its Uyghur and Muslim minorities.

While China has denied human rights abuses in Xinjiang, it said it has established “vocational training centers” to curb what it deems as potential terrorism, separatism, and religious radicalism in the area.