The TIGTA report found that the IRS used “inappropriate criteria” to scrutinize conservative groups and allowed said criteria to remain in place for at least 18 months.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Obama Promised The Most Transparent Presidency In History – His Administration Has Been Anything But
A Transparent Failure
Posted May 14, 2013
Obama Promised The Most Transparent Presidency In History
– His Administration Has Been Anything But
Obama: “My Administration Is Committed To Creating An Unprecedented Level Of Openness In Government.” (President Barack Obama, “Memorandum For The Heads Of Executive Departments And Agencies: Transparency and Open Government,”
Press Release, 1/21/09)
Obama: “Let Me Say It As Simply As I Can: Transparency And The Rule Of Law Will Be The Touchstones Of This Presidency.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks By The President In Welcoming Senior Staff And Cabinet Secretaries To The White House , Washington, DC, 1/21/09)
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney: “We Are The Most Transparent Administration In History, Without Question.” (Jay Carney, White House Press Briefing, Washington, DC, 9/28/11)
Obama : “I Won’t Stop Fighting To Open Up Government.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks At A Town Hall Meeting, Elyria, OH, 1/22/10)
Obama: “But I Can Tell You We Have Put In Place The Toughest Ethics Laws And Toughest Transparency Rules Of Any Administration In History. In History.” (President Barack Obama, Remarks At A Town Hall Meeting, Elyria, OH, 1/22/10)
Obama’s Justice Department Used A “Secret Subpoena” To Obtain Phone Records From Reporters
The Associated Press Headline: “Gov’t Secretly Obtained AP Phone Records In Probe” (Mark Sherman, “Gov’t Secretly Obtained AP Phone Records In Probe,” The Associated Press, 5/13/13)
“Anti-Secrecy Watchdogs Also Criticized The Move.” “Anti-secrecy watchdogs also criticized the move. ‘I’ve never heard of a dragnet collection effort against a media organization like this,’ said Stephen Aftergood, who tracks secrecy issues for the Federation of American Scientists. ‘This was not a targeted monitoring of an individual reporter. It’s a sweeping collection of an entire bureau’s communications.’” (Michael Isikoff, “‘Nixonian’? The Justice Department Secretly Collected AP Reporters’ Phone Records,” NBC News, 5/13/13)
NBC’s Chuck Todd: “Its Chilling … They Owe Us An Explanation.” NBC’s CHUCK TODD: “It’s chilling and I guess they owe us an explanation, but it’s absolutely chilling because the broad scope of what they subpoenaed in going after phone records.” (MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 5/14/13)
National Journal ‘s Ron Fournier: The Department Of Justice’s Phone Record Seizure Is “Chilling” And “Stupid.” NATIONAL JOURNAL’s RON FOURNIER: “I used to be the bureau chief of the Washington bureau. I’ll say two things. One, this is chilling. This is only meant to intimidate whistleblowers who want to get out embarrassing information about the administration and to intimidate reporters. This is only to clamp down on information that might embarrass the president. That’s all this is about. Secondly, not only is it chilling, it is stupid.” (MSNBC’s ” Morning Joe,” 5/14/13)
Four Days Into The Scandal, Americans Are Still Waiting For All The Facts From Obama On The IRS Scandal
The Washington Post Editorial, On The IRS Scandal: “The Administration Should Provide Complete Answers, And Soon.” “Who else knew about the targeting? In subsequent testimony, IRS leaders assured lawmakers that no one did. Were they ignorant or deliberately untruthful? Did they even ask before reporting to Congress? … Considering that Ms. Lerner seems to have known about the targeting by 2011, did the IRS ever plan on revealing that it had singled out conservative groups? Or was it only the impending release of the inspector general’s report that compelled agency officials to ‘fess up? The administration should provide complete answers, and soon.” (Editorial, “The IRS’s Turn To Answer Questions,” The Washington Post , 5/13/13)
The IRS Delivered Confidential Documents From The Groups It Targeted To ProPublica Which Contradicts Earlier Statements Made By The IRS And “May Represent A Violations Of Federal Guidelines.” “ProPublica on Monday reported that the same IRS division that targeted conservative groups for special scrutiny during the 2012 election cycle provided the investigative-reporting organization with confidential applications for tax-exempt status. That revelation contradicts previous statements from the agency and may represent a violation of federal guidelines. Lois G. Lerner, who heads the IRS sector that reviews tax-exemption applications, told a congressional oversight committee in April 2012 that IRS code prohibited the agency from providing information about groups that had not yet been approved.” (Josh Hicks, “IRS Released Confidential Info On Conservative Groups To ProPublica,” The Washington Post, 5/14/13)
We want answers on Benghazi
In a Congressional hearing, Greg Hicks, former Deputy Chief Of Mission for The U.S. In Libya, said that a U.S. Special Forces unit in Tripoli was told it did not have the authorization to fly to Benghazi during the attack.
So, why won’t the Obama Administration and Former Secretary Clinton acknowledge the claims of Benghazi whistleblowers?
News Reporter: IRS Started ‘Hammering’ Me After Tough Obama Interview
Larry Connors, a veteran local news anchor at KMOV Channel 4 in St. Louis, says that the Internal Revenue Service has been targeting him since an April 2012 interview he conducted with President Obama -- a fact that he dismissed as coincidence until the recent reports about the IRS targeting conservative groups.
"Shortly after I did my April 2012 interview with President Obama, my wife, friends and some viewers suggested that I might need to watch out for the IRS. I don't accept 'conspiracy theories', but I do know that almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me," Connors wrote on his Facebook page late Monday night.
According to his account, his questions for Obama touched on the economy and spending but were not exceptional in nature. But following "allegations that the IRS focused on various groups and/or individuals questioning or criticizing government spending, taxes, debt or how the government is run," Connors now believes there may be a possible connection.
"Can I prove it? At this time, no," he wrote. "But it is a fact that since that April 2012 interview ... the IRS has been pressuring me."
According to his account, his questions for Obama touched on the economy and spending but were not exceptional in nature. But following "allegations that the IRS focused on various groups and/or individuals questioning or criticizing government spending, taxes, debt or how the government is run," Connors now believes there may be a possible connection.
"Can I prove it? At this time, no," he wrote. "But it is a fact that since that April 2012 interview ... the IRS has been pressuring me."
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