STEWART: “I also sit on House Weaponization Select Subcommittee. Couple weeks ago, we had a journalist before us, Matt Taibbi who, by the way is not that conservative. He’s an independent journalist, but is not to be progressive or to the left, not to the right. And during the few hours that he’s appearing before Congress, an IRS agent appears at his home and leaves him a note. Are you familiar with this? Are you aware of this?”

Yellen: “No, I’m not.”

STEWART: “OK, well, it’s been well reported, and I can tell you more details, but here it is. A journalist is appearing before Congress to talk about the weaponization of the federal government. And during that time, an IRS agent goes to his home. I got to tell you, I have never heard of an IRS — IRS agent making an appearance at someone’s home. Short of them being under investigation for fraud, or they want to be questioned for fraud. And I would ask — I mean, you’re an economist, you’re a mathematician, what are the chances of that being just luck that the IRS appeared at someone’s home while he’s testifying about weaponization of federal government before Congress? Because I think it’s minuscule. I think it’s one in a million or less. And you weren’t aware of that. But now you — I’ve told you about it. I need to ask you with direct oversight of the IRS, does that bother you?”

Yellen: “It’s certainly something that I would want to look into. I’m not aware that IRS agents do that,
except as you said, in cases where there’s an investigation for law —”

STEWART: “That’s exactly right.”

Yellen: “— for law breaking that’s underway.”

STEWART: “It seems remarkable that this was a coincidence. It seems nearly impossible. And one comment if I could I want to be respectful of our time. The U.S. government collects taxes almost entirely because people are willing to volunteer to get compliance. That only works if they trust the IRS and the tax policy and tax engagement. And when we hear things like this, it breaks that trust. And we’ve sent a letter to you asking for information regarding this communications. And I would ask if you would commit that you’ll provide that information, because it’s deeply troubling for many of us.”

Yellen: “I will certainly look into it as you requested.”

[Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight. — Ed]