Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Last Call: Three-Front Threat

President Obama and the executive branch launched into action with a triple-pronged attack to stamp out GOP criticism on the week's three "scandals":  the IRS, Benghazi, and the DoJ.

First, Attorney General Eric Holder testified before angry House Republicans about the leak subpoenas served to the Associated Press and was in no mood for GOP nonsense from goons like Rep. Darrel Issa:



At a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Eric Holder and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) clashed as the Attorney General tore into the Republican oversight chairman's conduct as "unacceptable" and "shameful."

Holder slammed back at the GOP goofballs who couldn't resist making this all about them, and Louie Gohmert was especially idiotic for all of America to see.


Gohmert accused Holder and the Department of Justice of unfair targeting of Christian groups while failing to thoroughly investigate Tsarnaev, and said the FBI "blew it" by not following up after Tsarnaev had become "radicalized."

"Because of political correctness, there was not a thorough enough investigation of Tamerlan to determine this kid had been radicalized," Gohmert said, raising his voice at Holder.
Holder strongly refuted those charges and defended the FBI.

"You don't have access to the FBI files," Holder said. "You don't know what the FBI did. You don't know what the FBI's interaction was with the Russians. You don't know what questions were put to the Russians, whether those questions were responded to. You simply do not know that. ... I know what the FBI did. You cannot know what I know."

Gohmert grew irate, charging that Holder had challenged his personal character and continually tried to get a word in despite objections from other members of the Judiciary Committee.

He then rambled something that sounded like he was accusing Holder of "casting aspersions on my asparagus."


Then the White House released the Benghazi emails the GOP has been demanding.

Senior Obama administration officials contend the e-mails demonstrate the process of developing talking points for members of Congress to use in media interviews was not focused on politics but rather on events.

For instance, some of the e-mails expressed caution about what should be said publicly during an FBI investigation while others centered on the strength of intelligence at the time.

The White House said the e-mails it provided to inquiring lawmakers months ago and released on Wednesday aim to paint a fuller picture following what it described as a series of selective and inaccurate e-mails recently appearing in media reports.

"Collectively, these e-mails make clear that the interagency process, including the White House's interactions, were focused on providing the facts as we knew them based on the best information available at the time and protecting an ongoing investigation," said White House spokesman Eric Schultz.

The e-mails indicate the CIA was likely the lead organization in developing the talking points with the State Department recommending significant changes.

And while turf battles where a dead Ambassador is involved aren't exactly kosher, they aren't illegal.  Also, both the CIA Director and Secretary of State at the time have both resigned:  Hillary Clinton and Gen. David Petraeus.

On top of that, President Obama then asked for and received the resignation of acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller.

Seeking to regain the initiative amid a series of controversies that have threatened his second-term agenda, Obama said new leadership was needed to restore public confidence in the IRS, whose reputation for political independence has suffered a major blow.

With congressional investigations looming, Obama said he had told Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to seek the resignation of Steven Miller, the acting IRS commissioner, and Lew had done so.

"I'll do everything in my power to make sure nothing like this happens again by holding the responsible parties accountable, by putting in place new checks and new safeguards," Obama told reporters in the White House's ornate East Room.


The President has effectively cleared the air, and cleared the decks, all in one afternoon.  The GOP should have been more careful with what it wished for, because the President complied, and now we'll almost certainly watch them overplay their hand by moving the goalposts.

Obama is winning this battle, folks.  He's outsmarted them YET AGAIN and they despise him for it.

1 comment:

Ben Guerrero said...

Holder should also remark that if there was a leak to Ghomert, and there now needs to be an investigation to find out, for Mr. (snicker) Goober, er, Ghormert, to expect to be interviewed as if a criminal investigation is being determined. That should stop him in his tracks but a criminal investigation should be conducted to see if there is a leak to Ghomert.

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