Scandals

 

A new ABC News/WaPo poll is out with some reaction to the various scandals.

A majority think the Administration is trying to cover up the facts on Benghazi.

A majority think the IRS deliberately targeted conservative groups; a [plurality think the Administration is covering up the facts.

But there is little love for the press - a majority think the federal prosecutors were justified in going after the phone records of the AP. That said, 69% are very or somewhat concerned that the feds will overstep in trying to protect classified information.

Here we go:

Q: Do you think the Obama administration (is honestly disclosing what it knows about what occurred in Benghazi) or (is trying to cover up the facts)?

33% say disclosing honestly: 55% say covering up.

But the Republicans are not unambiguously the good guys here:

Q: Republicans in Congress have criticized the way the Obama administration handled the attack in Benghazi, Libya. Do you think Republicans in Congress are (raising legitimate concerns), or are they (just political posturing)?

44% say they are raising legimate concerns; 45% say posturing.

On the IRS:

Q: As you may know it's been disclosed that the IRS singled out some conservative political groups for extra questions about their tax status. Do you think it was appropriate or inappropriate for the IRS to do this?

20% appropriate; 74% inappropriate.

Q: Do you think this extra focus on conservative political groups by the IRS was (a deliberate effort to harass these groups) or (an administrative mistake that was not intended to treat these groups unfairly)?

Deliberate - 56%; Administrative mistake - 31%

Q: In dealing with this situation with the IRS, do you think the Obama administration (is honestly disclosing what it knows about what occurred) or (is trying to cover up the facts)?

Disclosing - 42%; Concealing - 45%.

And on the AP:

Q: The AP reported classified information about U.S. anti-terrorism efforts and prosecutors have obtained AP's phone records through a court order. Do you think this action by federal prosecutors is or is not justified?

Justified - 52%; Not justified - 33%.

Nothing on the James Rosen, the Fox News reporter mentioned as a possible co-conspirator in a leak investigation because he wanted to interview a State Department source. And nothing on Secretary Sebelius' arm-twisting fund-raising from companies she regulates.

Comments

[narciso]

The second question is leading, it puts the onus on the GOP, instead of the Obama stonewall.

[NK]

The AP question-- is that a false premise? was there a court order in grabbing the AP hone records?, or did some nameless DOJ functionary just sign a subpoena?

[narciso]

Prosecutors issued a blanket subpoena encompassing nearly a 100 reporters, including many not tied to the original leak, is that overreaching,

[NK]

hone = phone records....

[narciso]

See they got that question wrong as well, certain US govt official, 'rhymes with Lennon'
leaked information to the AP, then you mention the subpoena.

[daddy]

According to a 2nd Tier national Talk Host (Andy Dean), for a Federal worker to get a bonus of more than 25 K at one time, there must be White House approval.

Sarah Hall Ingram got bonuses exceeding $103,000 in bonuses for the years 2009- 2011, so if Andy Dean is correct, it obviously took White House approval.

[Jane -]

The first one of $43k was approved by Bush.

[Extraneus]

I hope they make Lois Lerner go before the committee and recite the words.

"I refuse to answer that question, Senator, on the grounds..."

[henry]

Yes, ext, a parade of admin officials from the IRS pleading the 5th even beats a parade of admin officials from the IRS pleading Alzheimer's!

[Clarice]

According to the LAT she is taking the Fifth. Normal procedure when notified ahead of tim of this is not to make the witness appear and say this in public.

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

Clarice, I can't remember any WH scandals that have gone away when key witnesses take the fifth, can you?

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

This may be the beginning of something larger than even we imagined. My impression is that trying to erect the fire wall at Lerner will be a mighty difficult construction project.

From Lerner's counsel's web page:

As an attorney who has practiced over 30 years in a business environment that spanned the local, national, and international levels, I have dealt with hundreds of attorneys, some from the largest and most competent of firms. Yet things change when you become a target in a federal criminal investigation. You then look for the brightest and best. You want one with a reputation for honesty, an unequaled work ethic, a successful track record, and one who has compassion for you as a client. After seven years, a million pieces of paper, and an acquittal at the end of the government's case, I knew I was right, William Taylor was that attorney. He was surrounded by a team that cared as he did: Blair Brown, Ameit Meita, and Elizabeth Taylor.

Thomas Welch

Former President, Salt Lake City Olympics Committee

I suspect he will not allow her to be the scapegoat for this mess.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Jim:
Clarice, I can't remember any WH scandals that have gone away when key witnesses take the fifth, can you?

They're trying to pull it off with Fast and Furious. From Jan 2012:

Fast and Furious Key Player Invokes Fifth Amendment in Refusing to Testify to Congress

[centralcal]

@ChadPergram

Atty for #IRS's Lerner writes Issa that requiring her to appear at hrng even though she's taking the 5th is “to embarrass or burden her.”

[Rob Crawford]

“to embarrass or burden her.”

Wow. Good thing she's never burdened or embarrassed anyone trying to organize a non-profit Tea Party group...

[sailor]

Well, cc, I, for one, would like "to embarrass and burden her." I do hope Issa does not excuse her from the hearings.

[MarkO]

“to embarrass or burden her.”

Sounds good to me. Shame is better, but I'll go with these.

Hey, help me out all JOM'ers who said the IRS action was not illegal. That would mean she could not take the Fifth. She needs a colorable claim to fear of prosecution.

[MarkO]

strike "of" What's up with my auto?

[Rob Crawford]

So, a pack of Journolisters were spotted headed into the White House. Guess they don't trust the Obama administration to phone them or email them...

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

There may be an immunity deal in the offing for Ms. Lerner. Taylor does not seem to me to be be a Democratic operative.

[MarkO]

Should not Lerner be relieved of her duties? Suspended, even with pay? Shunned? Required to get coffee for the others?

[pagar]

O/T to the current scandals, however, there are a lot of links saying:

http://www.examiner.com/article/jane-fonda-75-flaunts-age-defying-figure-at-cannes-film-festival-1

IMO, Jane Fonda looks like the same Anti-American supporter of our North Vietnamese enemies she have always looked like.

There are 58195 names on the Vietnam Wall. Many of them are there because of the encouragement she and John Kerry gave the North Vietnamese. Many of them could have looked good in their old age but they never got the chance. They were killed by friends of Jane Fonda.

[sailor]

MarkO, I prefer fired and sent to jail, but shunning would also work for me.

[Janet]

Wonderful post at 5:04, pagar.

[Extraneus]

I hope the shaming and burdening really happens this time.

Never could understand why they excuse witnesses from appearing just because they're told about plans to invoke the 5th ahead of time. How can the witness know that all questions can be answered with the invocation?

"Thank you for appearing before the Committee, Ms. Lerner. Let's get started."

"What is your name?"

Can't take the 5th on that question.

"What is your quest?"

Perhaps that one.

"What is your favorite color?"

[Janet]

I loved pagar's post back in the fourth scandal thread -

"

I think the connections question is as bsd as the donor question.

" the IRS asked the Albuquerque Tea Party about connections to other groups, including “Marianne Chiffelle’s Breakfasts.”

The link is at 07:17 AM

It is really worrisome that the IRS is keeping track of conservatives and who they eat breakfast with. Just how big are these files.

Remember William Ayers has had a lifetime of freedom because the US government supposedly violated his rights, yet now conservatives are tracked by who they eat breakfast with."

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

Issa has issued a subpena after Lerner's counsel's letter. The committee is not backing down. Popcorn.

[Clarice]

Good catch, Hit.

[centralcal]

Was just gonna post that Jim - good for Issa!

[Extraneus]

They're gonna shame and burden Apple.

Rand Paul: Why is Apple being hauled before Congress to explain its perfectly legal tax minimization scheme?

Paul’s GOP colleague, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), also defended the Senate inquiry, calling it “offensive” for anyone to accuse [Carl] Levin of bullying.

[bgates]

Deliberate - 56%; Administrative mistake - 31%

If the pollster had the original signed memo from Barack Obama, which read in its entirety "I hereby direct the IRS to deliberately harass conservative political groups", and the pollster went door to door accompanied by Barack Obama, who would read the memo out loud and confirm he meant what it said, I bet that 'administrative mistake' number would dip below 30%.

[Sandy Daze]

GvdL (American Digest) posted this, 10'42" - well worth the time to watch. Very timely.

[Porchlight]

Comments on HuffPo are awesome:

How interesting. Lois will operate/invoke the fifth amendment of the...what is it...what's it called...wait. Will Lois operate the fifth amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America? How interesting.

Yes, HuffPo, you read that right. Of course I only skimmed a few.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/21/lois-lerner-irs-scandal_n_3314693.html

[Extraneus]

The idea that Obama knew nothing about any of this, and wasn't told by his closest advisers, who did know, is obviously ludicrous. But what will they get if they're able to pull off that deception?

"Electing a Democrat to the Presidency is so dangerous to the Republic that, even if he is oblivious to it, his minions will instinctively trample on the rights of American citizens, bullying and intimidating us without the need for the President's express orders."

"If we are to preserve our rights under the Constitution, we simply cannot afford to let Democrats control the United States Government."

[centralcal]

‏@RyanLizza

BREAKING: DOJ seized phone records associated with two White House lines and numerous Fox News phone numbers...

White House phone lines??????

[Rob Crawford]

White House phone lines??????

Yeah, wouldn't those phone logs (which I suspect are kept by the White House or Secret Service) already be government property?

[pagar]

Thank you, Janet!

It is really scary that the US government knows all about "“Marianne Chiffelle’s Breakfasts.”

and yet doesn't have a clue about the Boston Bombers being dangerous.

"DHS Training Guidelines Dismiss Concerns About U.S. Muslim Brotherhood…And Were Written by US MB Allies"

http://www.worldthreats.com/?p=12221&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WorldThreats+%28World+Threats%29

Probably we all ought to warn any of our now political friends that eat breakfast with us might cause the IRS to take a serious look at them.

[Jane -]

Kirsten Powers should be given a medal. She is so visibly upset at what this administration if doing. And she is undoubtedly smart enough to realize that ultimately it will destroy the democrat brand.

[narciso]

This is the framing I was referring to earlier;

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2013/05/18/nyts-peters-cleans-jonathan-weismans-original-report-fridays-irs-scandal

[Extraneus]

Fox News poll: Majority thinks White House knew about IRS actions

Most voters think the White House was involved in the IRS scandal in some way: 37 percent think the administration knew it was going on but didn’t initiate the policy, while another 29 percent believe the White House directed the IRS to go after those groups.

About a quarter (24 percent) says the White House had absolutely nothing to do with what the IRS was doing.

What kind of people believe that there's something called the "White House" that knows important things the president doesn't know about?

Seriously. I've been a manager for a long time now. Never had an "administration," but if anyone had info I should have known about and didn't tell me, which I don't believe has ever happened, their days would have been numbered.

It's not even slightly believable that high officials would keep something like this from Obama unless they knew they were in a Corleone family type organization that needed to keep the boss protected from crimes they were carrying out for him.

[narciso]

SO' I'm confused her job was as a Zampolit, why does she have to worry.

[Stephanie]

NOt only that Jane, but she is realizing that as a paid media flack she is also part of the press and as such, this could affect her.

Ditto as far as being an actual tax paying democrat and not a parasite who probably doesn't understand Obama's true motives and she is like many misguided elite 'compassionate with OPM' democrats... pissed.

I've never met a democrat who wasn't a hypocrite about taxes being paid by out of their own accounts vs other's, btw. Same with global warming and the limosine liberals.

I think that she is figuring out that maybe she is closer to a Smirnoff Martini than a Grey Goose in the drinking order.

[Jane -]

I still think she should be given a medal. The last two articles she has written are as good if not better than any conservative on this White House.

[Jim Rhoads f/k/a vnjagvet]

Steph:

Not so hard on KP, please. Motives don't count. The truth does. She needs to be encouraged imnsho.

[Extraneus]

Wait, I did have an administration, when I was a student government president. But those people were just there to be part of the clique and get dates. Nothing like real life I'm sure.

[Threadkiller]

White House Clown Jay Carney Plays Birther Card: What If Obama Birth Certificate Legitimate

http://youtu.be/GOKq0AW3hCo

He gets no laughs this time.

[daddy]

The first one of $43k was approved by Bush

Ughh. Thanks for that Jane.

I want immediate suspension of bonus's to Federal workers. Period.

[Stephanie]

I'm not trying to be hard on her but to point out that she's experiencing a very public awakening. It's one thing to be on the winning side and another to be on the right side. She's figuring out - very publicly - that she's been had.

She's been very good on most issues since at least Gosnell came to prominence.

[pagar]

You can't make this stuff up.

http://weaselzippers.us/2013/05/21/breaking-doj-grabbed-even-more-records-in-rosen-case-including-other-fox-news-numbers-media-visits-to-state-dept-even-wh-numbers/

"DOJ Seized Phone Records Of James Rosen’s Parents"

[Porchlight]

Hmm. I must be missing something. Here is today's Powers piece in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/05/21/liberalism-scandals-kirsten-powers-column/2347251/

She's saying liberalism and big government shouldn't get the blame for these scandals. Aside from the fact that she recognizes Benghazi as a travesty, what am I supposed to like about this piece?

Never mind that there is zero correlation between the political ideology called liberalism and the cascading scandals of the Obama administration. If anything, it's the opposite: it's the undeniably illiberal actions of people within the government that has created these crises. To suggest that any of this happened because the government is too big, or even that the aim of liberalism is to make government bigger, is a gross distortion. Scandals happen under every president, regardless of the size of the government and regardless of the political ideology of the leader of that government.

Yes, scandals happen under every president. They don't typically consist of using the power of the state to harass the political opposition. There is a reason Nixon and Watergate are emblazoned on the American mind.

[Jane -]

"DOJ Seized Phone Records Of James Rosen’s Parents"

We truly need to capitalize on the WH's paranoia.

[maryrose]

Yes we do Jane. They were worried about Obama winning a second term. All this targeting, abuse and lying about Benghazi stems from that. Fearful people do irrational things and then lie about it. That is what we are witnessing now. I am angry about Lerner taking the FIFth but then I do understand how she doesn't want to made the fall guy. Maxwell said nothing and trusted Cheryl Mills. We all know how that turned out. I do believe she should be fired however.Consequences for actions.That's real life.

[narciso]

Well Maryrose, it just goes to show how utterly disposable anyone is in this administration, Hicks is another, who apparently didn't learn the lesson, as he still voted for Obama.

[Skoot]

Failure to cooperate with an investigation is serious. Pretty sure it's grounds for termination. Lerner should be fired with loss of pension tomorrow. Unless, of course, they're working a deal for her to rat. Let the games begin! A lovely summer it will be!

[jimmyk]

I want immediate suspension of bonus's to Federal workers. Period.

I'd be willing to let the bonus pool consist of 10% of wages and salaries of the federal employees whose jobs have been permanently eliminated.