Chief of Staff

11:43 AM, May 21, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPER

President Barack Obama's former chief of staff, Jack Lew, the current treasury secretary, said today at a Capitol Hill hearing that he was aware "questions had been raised" about the IRS when he was at the White House:

"I was not aware of this audit until I met with the inspector general on March 15, 2013," Lew says.

A senator follows-up, "Had you heard of anything at the White House regarding -- "

"I was not aware of any specific facts," Lew says. "You know, I know that questions had been raised. The fact is, this audit was a publicly posted audit in October 2012. So the fact that an audit was going on was a matter of public record. I had no specific knowledge."

And didn't say anything about IRS investigation.

3:35 PM, May 20, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPER

A reporter confirmed with Jay Carney, today at the press briefing, that President Obama met with his chief of staff and the treasury secretary many times over the last month and that neither official told the president of the IRS scandal:

Showed Obama "how you passed a bill."

12:36 PM, Jan 25, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPER

President Barack Obama announced his new chief of staff, Denis McDonough, today at the White House. Washington Post reporter David Nakamura called the event a "big love-fest."

Obama's announcement today is big love-fest among top staff. Lots of applause in East Room for McDonough + Plouffe, two of O's top advisers

— David Nakamura (@DavidNakamura) January 25, 2013