Last Updated on January 6, 2023
Dallas-based tax services company Ryan LLC, of which Kevin McCarthy’s ally, Jeff Miller is a principal owner, is reportedly under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for tax refund-related fraud.
“[The FBI] does not confirm or deny the existence of investigations,” FBI spokeswoman Brooke Brennan said.
The investigation is alleged to have started in spring of 2021 after Ryan LLC hired three former high-ranking officials from the administration of Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, which happened just months after they left office.
This allegedly happened in order to pressure the Arizona State Department of Revenue to reward some $100 million in tax refunds to mining clients of Ryan LLC’s.
North Dakota’s deputy tax commissioner, Sandy McMerty, asserted that Ryan LLC draws out the refund claim process in an attempt to boost returns because North Dakota code requires a 10.5% interest payment on tax refunds.
“Some of their requests can take years to get through. In the end, it’s costly because the longer it takes us, a 10.5% interest rate is pretty damn good interest in the U.S. It pays well if you can make us take longer, and that’s what it feels like,” McMerty said.
McCarthy’s close confidant, Miller, in addition to being a Principal at Ryan LLC, also worked as an advisor to former California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), and Rick Perry’s 2016 campaign manager. Miller is also the former Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the California Republican Party and a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Council and republican Jewish Coalition National Board.
“A lot of people like to think that they’re close to Kevin. There are very few people who actually talk to him about stuff or that he reaches out to proactively on stuff…Obviously, Jeff [Miller] is a very key and central figure of that group,” a former aide to McCarthy said.
Kevin McCarthy’s best friend and “bag man” is Jeff Miller. Jeff is a lobbyist for Pfizer, and a principal at a company — Ryan LLC — which is allegedly under investigation by the FBI at the moment.
Nice friends you’ve got there @GOPLeader!
#NeverKevin https://t.co/ek6hgExFhD
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) December 13, 2022
John Stipicevic, McCarthy’s former deputy chief of staff, who some Republican lobbyists have described as “the second closest McCarthy insider on K Street,” testified to the proximity of the relationship between the McCarthy and Miller.
“Jeff has always had Kevin’s ear. They grew up together in the world of politics in D.C.,” Stipicevic said.
Miller is now a lobbyist for Pfizer after his hiring in April 2019 and the CEO of Miller Strategies ask assigned to lobby on “issues related to cyber security and technology” for Amazon Web Services in July 2019.
After he was caught for funneling Koch brothers’ dark money in the 2012 election, Miller and his then-accomplice were turned into were turned into witnesses for the state and in exchange for immunity from prosecution, the two exposed out-of-state money channels which connected to the Koch network.