TexasCHLforum.com

The White House's chief lawyer learned weeks ago that an audit of the Internal Revenue Service likely would show that agency employees inappropriately targeted conservative groups, a senior White House official said Sunday.

In the week of April 22, the Office of the White House Counsel and its head, Kathryn Ruemmler, were told by Treasury Department attorneys that an inspector general's report was nearing completion, the White House official said. In that conversation, Ms. Ruemmler learned that "a small number of line IRS employees had improperly scrutinized certain…organizations by using words like 'tea party' and 'patriot,' " the official said.

President Barack Obama said last week he learned about the controversy at the same time as the public, on May 10, when an IRS official revealed it to a conference of lawyers. The president's statement drew criticism, focusing attention on his management style and whether he has kept himself sufficiently informed about the agencies under his authority.

The Annoyed Man wrote:http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/d ... ml?hp=t1_3
D.C. turns on Obama
By MIKE ALLEN and JIM VANDEHEI | 5/14/13 9:10 PM EDT

The town is turning on President Obama — and this is very bad news for this White House.

Republicans have waited five years for the moment to put the screws to Obama — and they have one-third of all congressional committees on the case now. Establishment Democrats, never big fans of this president to begin with, are starting to speak out. And reporters are tripping over themselves to condemn lies, bullying and shadiness in the Obama administration.

Buy-in from all three D.C. stakeholders is an essential ingredient for a good old-fashioned Washington pile-on — so get ready for bad stories and public scolding to pile up.

While IRS officials attributed the agency's heavy scrutiny on conservative groups to the spike in applications over the past few years, fresh reports and figures are raising questions about whether the agency knowingly applied a double standard.

A highly anticipated watchdog report, released late Tuesday by the inspector general's office, depicted an even bigger spike in applications for tax-exempt status from a type of group that includes labor organizations. Yet, according to the report, the conservative groups were the ones singled out for special treatment.

The Annoyed Man wrote:This is really blowing up in the administration's face. It's huge. Here are the links from Drudge:

• IRS Began Targeting Conservatives in March 2010...
• Probe Expands To Groups Opposed To Gov't, Teaching Constitution...
• Scrutiny Deeper Than Thought...
• 'Kept shifting targets in tax-exempt groups'...
• Agency accused of leaking confidential tax documents during election...
• FLASHBACK: Romney donor vilified by Obama campaign, then subjected to 2 audits...
• Did Plouffe Justify IRS Targeting Conservative Groups?
  
  
  and saving the best for last.....
• A NEW 'ENEMIES LIST'

This stuff is not going to go away. Between this scandal and the Benghazi debacle, we are witnessing the hamstringing of the Obama administration. Even leftist news sites are beating these drums now, and they are going to view whatever the administration says from now on with extreme skepticism. Watching WH Reporters from leftwing news outlets pound on Carney at WH press conferences has been a source of some bitter mirth for me. I say "bitter" because if they had just applied the same skepticism back in 2008 during the campaign, we would not have a LOT of the issues we're facing today. Instead, they went with the "tingle down the leg" school of "reporting."

The Annoyed Man wrote:This administration is easily the most corrupt in many generations.