Posted on 05/18/2013 8:05:42 PM PDT by Kaslin
President Obama continues to insist that he first became aware of his IRS targeting conservative groups a week ago Friday when the news first broke.
This, despite the fact that his White House counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler, had been informed of the probe on April 22. And despite the fact, as the New York Times reports, that officials in his Treasury Department knew in March that tea party groups had been targeted.
President Obama continues to insist that he first became aware of his IRS targeting conservative groups a week ago Friday when the news first broke.
This, despite the fact that his White House counsel, Kathryn Ruemmler, had been informed of the probe on April 22. And despite the fact, as the New York Times reports, that officials in his Treasury Department knew in March that tea party groups had been targeted.
The inspector general gave Republicans some fodder Friday when he divulged that he informed the Treasury’s general counsel he was auditing the I.R.S.’s screening of politically active groups seeking tax exemptions on June 4, 2012. He told Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin “shortly after,” he said. That meant Obama administration officials were aware of the matter during the presidential campaign year.The disclosure last summer came as part of a routine briefing of the investigations that the inspector general would be conducting in the coming year, and he did not tell the officials of his conclusions that the targeting had been improper, he said.
Treasury officials stressed they did not know the results until March 2013, when the inspector presented a draft.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
Her father-in-law Vernon Jarrett schooled her in it.
I will be very surprised if we do NOT see her name soon in connection with the IRS scandal.
No necessarily. If Soetoro and his banditos had not been able to "fix" the election, ZeroCare would have been repealed, saving many lives yet to be lost.
We all know obama is a lying dirtbag.
whoopssss!! I hope I don’t become an IRS target for posting that.
Does anyone else remember flag@whitehouse.gov?
Iirc it was a place to “snitch” on people.
Two people tonight on TV mentioned the creation of a culture of tyranny Didn’t we talk about when the above program was initiated?
But you are assuming that no one committed suicide when the IRS came after them. Historically, some have in the past. There was one prominent hacker that recently committed suicide when the Obama justice department went all Chicago on him.
Clinton Admits Fbi Files Acquired
Administration Says It Was Honest Mistake
Dole Isn't Convinced
June 10, 1996|By William Neikirk, Tribune Staff Writer.
LAS VEGAS — President Clinton conceded Sunday that the administration mistakenly obtained the FBI files of more than 300 people, including many top Republicans, in late 1993 as the result of a "completely honest bureaucratic snafu" involving security clearances.
His chief of staff, Leon Panetta, told reporters that "obviously a mistake was made" and apologized to the people whose FBI files wound up at the White House. Clinton did not apologize directly, but said "I completely support" what Panetta said about the affair.
"It's inexcusable that the mistake was made, but none of that information was improperly used," Panetta told reporters aboard Air Force One. He said new procedures have been put in place "to ensure that that will never happen again."
The incident grew into a political controversy when Sen. Bob Dole, the presumptive Republican nominee, likened it to Watergate when the Nixon administration compiled an "enemies list."
In a campaign appearance with House Speaker Newt Gingrich in Georgia on Saturday, Dole referred to it as a "dirt-digging expedition" and demanded an apology.
"It smells to high heaven" Dole said. He added that for an administration that bragged that it would be the most ethical in history, "the Clinton White House certainly makes a lot of innocent mistakes."
The White House was caught off guard by the disclosure that FBI files of such Republican luminaries as former Secretary of State James A. Baker III; Gingrich's press secretary, Tony Blankley; Kenneth Duberstein, chief of staff to former president Ronald Reagan; and Marlin Fitzwater, former President George Bush's press secretary, were obtained by the White House personnel security office in late 1993.
Panetta said the mistake occurred when an Army investigator was brought into the White House in late 1993 to help clear up a backlog of paperwork involving security clearances for those seeking White House passes. He said the detailee was given an outdated list of passholders that included many officials from the Reagan and Bush administrations.
The Army official, Anthony Marceca, who was detailed to the White House's personnel security office, requested and obtained the files from the FBI and reviewed them for "derogatory information." If he found any, he passed it on to Craig Livingstone, the director of the office.
According to the Washington Post, Livingstone's attorney said that Livingstone did not pass on any information to anyone outside his office. Panetta told reporters that the files remained in the security office. Now, he said, they have all been returned to the FBI, but they remained in White House possession until they were returned last week.
"It appears to have been a completely honest bureaucratic snafu when we were trying to straighten out who should get the security clearances to come to the White House," Clinton told reporters.
As for Dole's criticism, Panetta noted that the senator had made the comment while campaigning with Gingrich at his side.
"When Sen. Dole gets on the stage with Speaker Gingrich, he begins to take on some of the same shoot-from-the-hip approaches," the chief of staff said. "It's shoot first and ask questions later."
Panetta said there would be an FBI investigation into the matter, but House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) said that wasn't enough.
"I don't think that ends it," Armey said on ABC, referring to the White House apology. "I think we ought to have hearings."
The fact that the White House had obtained the FBI records grew out of the controversy over the firing of the travel office staff in 1993. House Republican investigators first discovered a White House request for the FBI files of the fired travel office director, Billy Dale, and then learned more files had been requested.
The incident has a special touch of irony since Clinton gained political points in the 1992 presidential election when it was discovered Bush administration officials searched State Department files on Clinton's days as a student in London and his trip to the former Soviet Union.
The president's three-day swing also took him to San Francisco on Sunday, with stops scheduled for Los Angeles on Monday and Albuquerque on Tuesday.
Clinton, who announced opposition to so-called same-sex marriages, was met by about 200 gay rights advocates protesting outside the San Francisco home of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, where the president attended a $1 million Democratic National Committee fundraising dinner.
Clinton's visit to Nevada was the first of his presidency. He attended a fundraiser at the home of Brian Greenspun, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun, and raised a half-million dollars for Democrats. Less than half the money raised came from casino figures, including casino owner Steve Wynn.
Asked about the propriety of the president gathering funds from gambling interests while Congress is considering a bill to establish a commission to study the industry with subpoena power, Panetta said there was nothing improper.
"Fundraisers are a thing he's going to attend all over the country," he said. "People from all backgrounds will attend and make contributions."
Clinton said it appears that an agreement is near on establishing a gambling commission, which would have limited subpoena power. The agreement would make clear that "it wasn't going to be a witch hunt, which is my concern all along."
The president, who played a round of golf recently with Wynn, said the commission is supposed to look into the impact of gambling on the country, and "not any kind of a pursuit of any particular individual organizations (or) groups."
keep lying, your lies will bury you, obama.
I think Obama said he only wasn’t aware the IG report. As others have commented here, I believe this was a scheme to suppress the TEA party movement. I remember how it exploded onto the scene, but was somewhat subdued by 2012. Now we know why. Think of the difference a few hundred or thousand groups across the country could have made. Instead out of supporting the cause of freedom, they were cowering in their offices buried under IRS probes. Unbelievable. Of course, the Republicans screwed up by nominating Romney, who like McCain, spent most of his campaign on defense and continually praising Obama.
Presidents don’t order things. Presidents maintain plausible deniability by stating things strongly to their cheifs of staff, or their chiefs of staff just know what the boss wants. Then the Chief of Staff, in this case probably Valerie Jarett actually, states strongly down the chain, how nice it would be to tie up tea party groups through the election.
No paper trail and plausibility is maintained. Presidents are usually big picture guys, not detail guys. I hate Obama’s guts, but even he probably didn’t come up with the idea for the IRS to tie up tea party groups and other contributors with the IRS. The idea probably came from an underling a level below Jarrett.
Yes, the president is in it up to his neck and he is in on the cover up. It is the cover up that always sinks you.
If we had an unbiased media in this nation, that cover up would be revealed through leaks and we would be looking at impeachment proceedings.
Obama’s underlings did make one fatal mistake by going after the press with the AP scandal. Here is hoping the press is mad at him and brings him down. I’m not holding my breath. They will chew him behind closed doors and then make nice with him in public.
The corruption of my once noble nation is nearly complete.
In prison she should be waterboarded every hour for the rest of her worthless existance. Only justice for such traitors.
Bingo!...Benghazi and F and F were accessory to murder....IRS scandal was just a breech of the “ever-changing” Constitution
I hope all of those people start wondering if they’re ever going to get a 3:00 am visit from some SEAL types. I really hope they sweat that out.
He is intent on destroying the US.<<
and even thinking that makes us domestic terrorists!...U get it yet???
No way in Hell the press believe it either. The fellow travelers just help with the lying.
Is anyone wondering if Obama lied about not being serviced by Larry Sinclair and smoking crack during it?
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