Most Americans say that the issues being raised by congressional hearings into the Benghazi terrorist attacks and the revelations that the IRS unfairly targeted conservative groups "involve serious matters that need to be investigated." According to a new poll from Gallup, 69 percent of those polled agreed that questions over the Obama administration's public response to the September 11, 2012, attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya deserve more investgiation, including 52 percent who "strongly agree."
On the IRS scandal, even more Americans, 74 percent, agree that issue needs to be investigated more, including 56 percent who "strongly agree." Gallup's Frank Newport has more:
Americans place similar importance on these two issues despite the administration's appearing to give more weight to the IRS situation. The Obama administration has acknowledged the seriousness of the IRS situation, going so far as to fire the acting head of the IRS as a result, while being more critical of the continuing focus on the way it handled the aftermath of the Benghazi crisis. However, Obama on Wednesday released a long series of emails relating to the development of talking points after the crisis and Thursday asked Congress to increase embassy funding worldwide.
In addition, Gallup found that a majority of Americans are following both scandals very or somewhat closely, including 54 percent following the IRS scandal and 53 percent following the Benghazi scandal in those ways.
With three different scandals threatening to consume the White House last week—the Benghazi cover-up, the Justice Department’s seizure of the phone records of dozens of Associated Press reporters, and the revelation of an anti-Tea Party inquisition by the Internal Revenue Service—CNBC’s John Harwood offered his journalistic peers some advice on Twitter: “Those of us in political-media world should just shut up about ‘narratives’ and focus on what’s true.” CBS anchor Scott Pelley joined in: “We are getting big stories wrong, over and over again.”
With three different scandals threatening to consume the White House last week—the Benghazi cover-up, the Justice Department’s seizure of the phone records of dozens of Associated Press reporters, and the revelation of an anti-Tea Party inquisition by the Internal Revenue Service—CNBC’s John Harwood offered his journalistic peers some advice on Twitter: “Those of us in political-media world should just shut up about ‘narratives’ and focus on what’s true.” CBS anchor Scott Pelley joined in: “We are getting big stories wrong, over and over again.”
Among the questions the Internal Revenue Service asked an pro-life conservative group in Iowa: What do you pray about? Chris Moody at Yahoo! Newshas the story:
In his prepared remarks on the IRS’s targeting of his political opponents, President Obama said that “we’re going to hold the responsible parties accountable,” but only once we determine “who is responsible.” In today’s Wall Street Journal, Kim Strassel offers some helpful thoughts on determining responsibility, writing that it’s really not all that hard — and, indeed, it’s not.
NBC's Lisa Myers reported this morning that the IRS deliberately chose not to reveal that it had wrongly targeted conservative groups until after the 2012 presidential election:
Since the IRS admitted it improperly targeted conservative and Tea Party groups last Friday, journalists have worked tirelessly to expose the full extent of the growing scandal.
Treasury secretary Jack Lew asked Steven Miller, the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, to resign his post in response to the reports that the IRS had unfairly singled out conservative non-profit groups for close scrutiny. Miller has resigned, President Barack Obama said in a speech Wednesday night. The New York Times has more:
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