Obama Administration Scandals
May 23, 2013 — John Hinderaker
President Obama’s response to criticism over his Justice Department’s seizure, without notice or the opportunity for a hearing, of phone records from the Associated Press and emails in Fox reporter James Rosen’s personal account has been surpassingly strange. Whenever he has addressed the issue, he has cited his own support for a media shield law as if that were somehow exculpatory. Thus, in today’s national security speech he said: I’m
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May 23, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The Daily Caller reports that White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler had three unprecedented one-on-one meetings last year with the Treasury Department’s chief lawyer, Chistopher Meade. The meetings were in September and December of 2012. Meade had known about the inspector general’s investigation of the IRS’s targeting of conservative nonprofits since at least June 2012. According to the Daily Caller, Ruemmler had never previous met with Meade one-on-one. Meade and Ruemmler
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May 23, 2013 — Steven Hayward
There’s an old adage in the public relations trade that if you’re on the defensive, you’re losing the PR battle. And so it is rather delicious to watch Obama’s defenders on the left furiously spinning that no, no—no way is any of this like Nixon! Scott already took down Steve Chapman’s “false equivalence” column; the Washington Post editorial board—and who is more authoritative on Watergate than them??—thinks the comparison risible.
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May 22, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
William Taylor III, the lawyer Lois Lerner selected to represent her before the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, is part of a firm that’s about as tight with the Obama administration as it could be. According to Washingtonian Magazine, the firm, a boutique litigation shop called Zuckerman Spaeder, has sent a higher percentage of partners into the Obama administration than any other law firm. But did Lerner’s lawyer do
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May 22, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The emerging conservative line on the Obama administration’s aggressive investigations of journalists is that national security leaks should be dealt with by going after the leaker, not the reporter. I’ve heard this line from a number of conservative commentators, most notably Karl Rove. I couldn’t disagree more. Reporters are not above the law. And, as John has explained, the law (per the Espionage Act, 18 US Code Section 793) prohibits
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May 22, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
We’ve always viewed the Benghazi scandal in terms of (1) the Obama administration’s failure to provide requested security before the attack, (2) its conduct, or lack thereof, during the attack, and (3) its cover-up after the attack (along with, as we recently learned, its retaliation against those who didn’t feel comfortable about the cover-up). But there’s always been a fourth element — the administration’s failure to bring the attackers to
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May 22, 2013 — Scott Johnson
A reader with a long background of employment at the IRS writes on an aspect of the IRS scandal that hasn’t received much attention and that draws on his experience at the agency: I’m a fan and regular reader. Thanks for your yeoman’s work on the IRS scandal. I’m also retired from a 35-year law enforcement career, 22 of which were at the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, so I have
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May 22, 2013 — Scott Johnson
My daughter Eliana has a carefully reported piece at NRO on the IRS scandal that was posted late yesterday afternoon. The piece is titled “Oversight from Washington, all along.” I hesitate to highlight or praise the work of my own daughter, but Hugh Hewitt is under no such inhibition. Hugh praises the work of Eliana as well as that of his Townhall colleague Carol Platt Liebau as “The real reporting
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May 22, 2013 — Scott Johnson
Writing from memory yesterday morning, I recalled the role George Will had played as National Review’s Washington columnist during Watergate. I was faithfully reading the magazine in 1973 and 1974, and I think I was remembering Will’s NR columns accurately, but I was also recalling an inside account written, I thought, by William Buckley or NR senior editor Jeffrey Hart. I couldn’t find what I was thinking of in Buckley’s
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May 21, 2013 — John Hinderaker
The dam protecting the IRS scandal began to crack today when Lois Lerner, the IRS official who announced, and apologized for, the improper singling out of conservative-leaning organizations by IRS employees under her command, announced through her criminal defense lawyer that she will not testify as scheduled tomorrow before the House Oversight Committee. Rather, she will assert her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. This marks a milestone in the IRS
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May 21, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
John Yoo identifies the common thread in the major Obama administration scandals: Add up all the recent scandals and the message is clear: the Obama administration is showing that it cannot be trusted with the basic functions of government: law enforcement (surveillance of reporters), taxation (IRS scandals), and national security (Benghazi). How, then, can we trust the administration when it comes to immigration — an area in which it already
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May 21, 2013 — John Hinderaker
The two most honest and independent reporters in Washington are, I think, Jake Tapper, now of CNN, and CBS’s Sharyl Attkisson. I’m probably forgetting someone, but those are the two that come to mind. Ms. Attkisson reported on Fast and Furious more fearlessly and effectively than any other reporter. Today she disclosed that her personal and work computers have been “compromised.” The circumstances are being investigated: “I can confirm that
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May 21, 2013 — Scott Johnson
Having lived through the Watergate scandal and the impeachment of President Nixon, I recall that one conservative journalist stood out from the pack. As the Washington columnist for National Review, George Will regularly exposed the Nixon administration’s lines of defense as the lies that they were. He distinguished himself both for his merciless analytical rigor and his skills as an anatomist. Will was in the infancy of his now long
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May 20, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Yesterday the Washington Post broke an explosive story: as part of a leak investigation, the Department of Justice obtained access to Fox News reporter James Rosen’s email account, without giving notice of such access to Rosen, Fox or anyone else: When the Justice Department began investigating possible leaks of classified information about North Korea in 2009, investigators did more than obtain telephone records of a working journalist suspected of receiving
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May 20, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Eliana Johnson correctly identifies the emerging GOP narrative about President Obama’s relationship to the IRS scandal. The president, we are told, has fostered a “culture of intimidation” that encourages the vilification of one’s political opponents, thus inducing bureaucrats to target those whom the president has demonized. I understand why the GOP is pressing this line. So far, it lacks evidence of White House involvement in the scandal, but wants to
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May 20, 2013 — Scott Johnson
The Wall Street Journal reports that the White House counsel was advised of the Inspector General’s audit findings weeks ago. Doug Ross has compiled a useful IRS scandal timeline into which this latest tidbit fits. A friend with substantial experience as a chief executive officer looks back on what we have learned to date about the IRS harassment of Obama administration political opponents. He raises the issue of executive responsibility:
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May 19, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Is Obama being hurt by the scandals that have engulfed his administration? That sounds like a silly question: of course the scandals have damaged his image, thrown his administration off message, weakened his ability to get anything through Congress. Haven’t they? If you believe the Gallup Poll, the scandals might be a boon to Obama. Currently he sits at 51%/42%, as measured from May 15 through May 17. This represents
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