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Posted on 05/20/2013 6:10:24 AM PDT by EXCH54FE
The IRS scandal keeps getting closer and closer to the top of the White House food chain as Obama officials desperately try to spin their way out of mounting evidence and foul play. The Wall Street Journal is reporting President Obama's top attorney knew about the IRS targeting weeks ago before news broke, but of course, Obama still didn't know about it until he learned about it "from the news."
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.
That disclosure has prompted a debate over whether the president should have been notified at that time.
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 main question since this whole thing broke on May 10th is whether President Obama ordered the targeting, knew of targeting, or encouraged the targeting through his statements. Did this thing come from the top? Kim Strassel says of course it did.
Was the White House involved in the IRS's targeting of conservatives? No investigation needed to answer that one. Of course it was.
President Obama and Co. are in full deniability mode, noting that the IRS is an "independent" agency and that they knew nothing about its abuse. The media and Congress are sleuthing for some hint that Mr. Obama picked up the phone and sicced the tax dogs on his enemies.
But that's not how things work in post-Watergate Washington. Mr. Obama didn't need to pick up the phone. All he needed to do was exactly what he did do, in full view, for three years: Publicly suggest that conservative political groups were engaged in nefarious deeds; publicly call out by name political opponents whom he'd like to see harassed; and publicly have his party pressure the IRS to take action.
Mr. Obama now professes shock and outrage that bureaucrats at the IRS did exactly what the president of the United States said was the right and honorable thing to do. "He put a target on our backs, and he's now going to blame the people who are shooting at us?" asks Idaho businessman and longtime Republican donor Frank VanderSloot
Learned about it my butt. He was probably in on planning it.
The fact that they were INFORMED, means that they were “not”.
Just like their vast censorship, they call “transparency”.
0bama didn't know about the CONTENTS OF THE IG's REPORT before the public.
"I can assure you that I certainly did not know anything about the IG report before the IG report had been leaked through press – through the press." - 0bambi
He answered a direct question about his knowledge of the SCANDAL with an answer about the REPORT.
He evaded the direct question.
Therefore, one can conclude he knew about the scandal much earlier.
Otherwise, why lie by answering a question that wasn't asked?
He is too busy worrying about our jobs, neighbors and families to pay attention to such petty partisan bickering(these investigations), except when does the outraged act on TV because his advisers tell him he must.
Why is it that so many of you spend every hour of every day attempting to discourage freepers?
If its that bad, why waste your time even thinking about it. Surely American Idol or something would be a far more effective waste of your time.
Obama meets with the Union bosses representing IRS employees.
He says “if only something could be done about these Tea Party groups”,
and leaves it at that.
Embattled IRS official Lois Lerner’s husband’s law firm has strong Obama connections
Excerpt:
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) official who apologized for targeting conservative nonprofit groups for extra scrutiny is married to an attorney whose firm hosted a voter registration organizing event for the Obama presidential campaign, praised President Obama’s policy work, and had one of its partners appointed by Obama to a key ambassadorship.
IRS Exempt Organizations Division director Lois G. Lerner, who has been described as “apolitical” in mainstream press coverage of the IRS scandal, is married to tax attorney Michael R. Miles, a partner at the law firm Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. The firm is based in Atlanta but has a number of offices including in Washington, D.C., where Miles works.
The 400-attorney firm hosted an organizing meeting at its Atlanta office for people interested in helping with voter registration for the Obama re-election campaign./
The fact that Obama's private attorney chose not to tell him indicates that she did not need to, because he was already aware.
What is her Husband’s name?
Scott Lerner was an SEIU organizing bigwig and I’m wondering if there’s any relation there.
Scott Lerner was caught on tape a couple years ago discussing their need for the economy to collapse and their need for more people to be poor and in foreclosure.
Didn’t you hear...Obama is not really that involved in government affairs.
Married to Michael R. Miles
Lerner may be her maiden name. The person you sspeak of may be related, I’m not sure yet.
He knew. he couldn't out and out lie cause that might come back to bite him in the ass but he couldn't tell the truth because that would be admitting guilt.
He didn't say he'd answer HER question, he very specifically said he'd have to formulate it right to answer A question. But his question, not the reporterette's.
Yeah, he knew all right.
Excerpt...
Addendum: Maybe Ruemmler didn’t bother to let Obama know because she figured he already knew. Jeffrey Lord at American Spectator finds a little circumstantial evidence that might explain the timing of the IRS efforts to target the Tea Party:
According to the White House Visitors Log, provided here in searchable form by U.S. News and World Report, the president of the anti-Tea Party National Treasury Employees Union, Colleen Kelley, visited the White House at 12:30pm that Wednesday noon time of March 31st.
The White House lists the IRS union leader’s visit this way:
Kelley, Colleen Potus 03/31/2010 12:30
In White House language, “POTUS” stands for “President of the United States.”
The very next day after her White House meeting with the President, according to the Treasury Department’s Inspector General’s Report, IRS employees — the same employees who belong to the NTEU — set to work in earnest targeting the Tea Party and conservative groups around America. The IG report wrote it up this way:
April 1-2, 2010: The new Acting Manager, Technical Unit, suggested the need for a Sensitive Case Report on the Tea Party cases. The Determinations Unit Program Manager Agreed.
In short: the very day after the president of the quite publicly anti-Tea Party labor union — the union for IRS employees — met with President Obama, the manager of the IRS “Determinations Unit Program agreed” to open a “Sensitive Case report on the Tea party cases.” As stated by the IG report.
The NTEU is the 150,000 member union that represents IRS employees along with 30 other separate government agencies. Kelley herself is a 14-year IRS veteran agent. The union’s PAC endorsed President Obama in both 2008 and 2012, and gave hundreds of thousands of dollars in the 2010 and 2012 election cycles to anti-Tea Party candidates.
Putting IRS employees in the position of actively financing anti-Tea Party candidates themselves, while in their official positions in the IRS blocking, auditing, or intimidating Tea Party and conservative groups around the country.
At the least, it seems awfully coincidental.
‘White House knew of IRS scandal “weeks ago”’
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/05/20/white-house-knew-of-irs-scandal-weeks-ago/
I never thought I would see the day when the United States had a government that makes the Mexican government look honest.
The title is misspelled.
There is no “W” and no “K” in “Years.”
This is a smoking gun. No attorney alive would fail to tell the President immediately when he knew about this. Not one.
And does anybody on this board think that Zero's attorney is going to take the hit for this? Anybody?
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