And They’re Singing Like Canaries … US Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-R) on CNN’s State of the Union, Cincinnati IRS employees say direction came from Washington

IRSGATE: GOING ROGUE … ROGUE IRS EMPLOYEES SINGING LIKE CANARIES …

As Nancy Grace would say, BOMBSHELL TONIGHT OR TODAY, in this case. As reports at The Daily Mail, interviews with IRS employees have established that the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Internal Revenue Service was engaged in targeting Tea Party groups and other conservative organizations for unfair levels of scrutiny when applying for tax-exempt status, as liberal organizations were fast-tracked. We are starting to see linkage from the Cincinnati IRS office where supposedly only a few rogue agents were to blame for the IRS scandal to the Washington, DC office. The dots are beginning to be connected. Hmm, according to IRS workers interviewed, their targeting began in early 2010. This is much early than we have been previously been told. Wake Up America has a partial of the Q and A of the interviews.

Rep. Darrel lssa, chairman of powerful House Committee of Oversight and Government Reform, made that startling announcement on CNN Sunday morning.

‘As late as last week,’ he said, ‘the [Obama] administration was still trying to say the [IRS targeting scandal] was from a few rogue agents in Cincinnati, when in fact the indication is that they were directly being ordered from Washington.’

A committee spokesman sent MailOnline partial transcripts of two interviews with unnamed IRS workers about the agency’s actions in early 2010, on whose testimony Issa based his bombshell statement.

One of those interviewees said it was ‘impossible’ for a few IRS agents to have orchestrated such widespread partisan targeting on their own.

The Full CNN interview with Issa and Candy Crowley can be seen below:

“As late as last week the administration’s still trying to say there’s a few rogue agents in Cincinnati when in fact the indication is they were directly being ordered from Washington.”

From CNN:

In an exclusive interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Candy Crowley, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa said interviews with workers in the Cincinnati IRS office show targeting of conservative groups was “a problem that was coordinated in all likelihood right out of Washington headquarters - and we’re getting to proving it.”

“My gut tells me that too many people knew this wrongdoing was going on before the election, and at least by some sort of convenient, benign neglect, allowed it to go on through the election,” he said. “I’m not making any allegations as to motive, that they set out to do it, but certainly people knew it was happening.”

A bipartisan group of investigators from two House committees – Ways and Means, and Government Reform and Oversight – interviewed two front-line employees from the tax-exempt office last week.

One of the employees hit back against accusations that lower-level employees were responsible for the scrutiny of conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status in 2010, telling congressional investigators that the Ohio employees were being “thrown underneath the bus.”

A second “more senior” Cincinnati IRS employee said they began seeking other jobs when they were assigned to look out for applications from tea party groups, because they felt it was inappropriate.

US Rep. Darrell Issa (CA-R) Calls Jay Carney a “Paid Liar” for the Obama Administration … “This is a problem that was in all likelihood right out of Washington headquarters.”

ISSA CALLS THE IRS SCANDAL FOR WHAT IT PROBABLY IS … “coordinated in all likelihood right out of Washington headquarters”.

This morning on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ with Candy Crowley, Representative Darell Issa (CA-R) called White House spokesman Jay Carney a “PAID LIAR” for the Obama administration. OUCH!!! Well, if the paid lair fits, wear it. Issa took the gloves off and called it for what the IRS scandal looks like and is. Issa stated that “the reason why Lois Lerner tried to take the 5th is not because there is a rogue in Cincinnati. It’s because problem that was coordinated in all likelihood right out of Washington headquarters and we’re getting to prove it. We have 18 more transcribed interviews.

Crowley then tried to defend the Obama White House, as she did during the 2012 presidential debate between Romney and Obama, by saying that you don’t have the direct, definitive link, even though the front line agents believed and thought their directives came from Washington, DC. The SS Obama is taking on water and sinking.

From The Politico:

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee blasted White House press secretary Jay Carney on Sunday, calling him a “paid liar” who is not being truthful about the scandal at the Internal Revenue Service.

“Their paid liar, their spokesperson, the picture behind, he’s still making up things about what happened and calling this a local rogue,” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” gesturing to a graphic of Carney on the set.

“This is a problem that was in all likelihood right out of Washington headquarters,” Issa said. “We’re getting to proving it.”

Issa said the White House is not being truthful or forthcoming about the scandal.

“The president’s spokesman – spokesperson – is saying whatever’s convenient at the time. The story changes,” Issa said.

“What we have is people who have to come in and transcribe interviews. They’re saying under penalty of crimes that certain things are true. We have subpoenaed documents that would support that that they say emails went back and forth,” Issa said. “We will learn the whole truth.”

Top IRS Official Lois Lerner will Invoke 5th Amendment and Not Answer House Committee Questions on IRS Scandal

Oh this will go over well with “We the People” … Let’s see Obama’s faux outrage now.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Lois Lerner, the top IRS official and head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS responsible for reviewing non-profit organizations and the department at the heart of the IRS scandal, will plead the 5th Amendment and refuse to answer House committee questions on the grounds of self incrimination. Lerner was scheduled to answer questions from the House Oversight committee this Wednesday. Her attorney, William W. Taylor III, wrote that Ms. Lerner had committed no crime or made any misrepresentations, but because the Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation, “under the circumstances she has no choice but to take this course.”

So what does she have to hide? This scandal just got even more real.  The House committee was to ask Lerner to explain why she provided “false or misleading information” to the committee four times last year? Taylor, a criminal defense attorney for Learner asked that since Lerner is not going to answer questions, can she be excused from appearing, saying that would “have no purpose other than to embarrass or burden her.” WHO CARES WHAT IT DOES TO HER! With the crap that the IRS did to law-abiding Americans whose only crime was being conservative under her watch, I agree with the Jawa Report, “Boo frickin hoo, make her plead the Fifth for all to see”. Honesty, who really thinks that Holder and the DOJ is going to take this investigation seriously? About as serious as they did the New Black Panther Party and voter intimidation. Congress and Daryl Issa best make her march her happy butt into the hearing room and have all the world to see the head of the very department responsible for the IRS scandal of targeting conservative and Tea Party groups plead the 5th.

A top IRS official in the division that reviews nonprofit groups will invoke the 5th Amendment and refuse to answer questions before a House committee investigating the agency’s improper screening of conservative nonprofit groups.

Lois Lerner, the head of the exempt organizations division of the IRS, won’t answer questions about what she knew about the improper screening — or why she didn’t disclose it to Congress, according to a letter from her defense lawyer, William W. Taylor III. Lerner was scheduled to appear before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.

“She has not committed any crime or made any misrepresentation but under the circumstances she has no choice but to take this course,” said a letter by Taylor to committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Vista). The letter, sent Monday, was obtained Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times.

UPDATE I: From Weasel Zippers, Daryl Issa does not disappoint … Issa Issues Subpoena Anyway to force her to plead the 5th in public for all of America to see. More great PR for Barack Obama, Democrats and the IRS.

Lois Lerner, the IRS official who headed the tax-exempt division when the targeting of tea-party groups took place, plans to invoke her Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer questions before Congress on Wednesday.

But Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, the chairman of the House oversight committee where Lerner was to appear, has issued a subpoena to Lerner anyway.

The subpoena was delivered after the committee received the letter from Lerner’s attorney, a committee aide said.

Thomas Hicks, We Knew Benghazi was a Terrorist Attack “from the Get-Go” … Dem Rep. Lynch Admits that Benghazi Talking Points: ‘It Was Scrubbed … It Was False Information.”

BENGHAZI-GATE just got worse for President Barack Obama and future presidential wannabe Hillary Clinton.

The headline might as well be, CBS News reports … Bombshell tonight, ala Nancy Grace; however, in this case, it truly is a bombshell and the Obama Administration has much explanting to do. Bob Schieffer from CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’ started out by saying its the story that just won’t go away. For those Republicans in the House that think they have no political juice, here are words that I never thought I would ever hear from CBS News … “there is new information raising questions about whether there was a cover-up by the State Department to deflect criticism that it had ignored requests for more security for its people in Libya.”

That is much to the displeasure this morning in the Obama White House, with former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and the among the MSM who have tried to bury what really happened at the  Benghzi consulate in Libya on September 11, 2012.  Just how bad is the government cover-up of Benghazi-gate when CBS News is forced to report the new information and use the “cover-up” word? As discussed at the PJ Tatler, Thomas Hicks, the former deputy chief of mission in Libya and the number-two diplomat in Libya at the time of the terrorist attack on our diplomatic mission reportedly told a congressional committee that they knew that it was a terrorist attack “from the get-go.”  This is a far different story that we were told directly after the terror attack that left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Also, a much different story than put out by the Obama WH and that individuals have testified to in front of Congress.

“Everybody in the mission” in Benghazi, Libya, thought the attack on a U.S. consulate there last Sept. 11 was an act of terror “from the get-go,” according to excerpts of an interview investigators conducted with the No. 2 official in Libya at the time, obtained by CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”

“I think everybody in the mission thought it was a terrorist attack from the beginning,” Greg Hicks, a 22-year foreign service diplomat who was the highest-ranking U.S. official in Libya after the strike, told investigators under authority of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Hicks, the former U.S. Embassy Tripoli deputy chief of mission, was not in Benghazi at the time of the attack, which killed Chris Stevens – then the U.S. ambassador to Libya – and three other Americans.

The House hearings on Benghazi this week with “whistle-blowers” Mark Thompson, Gregory Hicks and Eric Nordstrum just got a lot more interesting and promises to be must see TV,  http://Oversight.House.Gov at 11:30  here

Also this weekend on ‘FOX News Sunday’ with Chris Wallace, Democratic congressman Stephen Lynch said that Susan Rice used “scrubbed” talking points on Benghazi to deliver “false information” to the American people. Lynch went on to say that, “Absolutely, they were false, they were wrong,” after being asked about Steve Hayes’s report on “The Benghazi Talking Points.” Damning.  It is pathetic yet all too common for this Administration that the moment there was a tragedy, as stated at Michelle Malkin.com they looked for the political advantage rather than leadership and dealing with the issue at hand rather than leadership and dealing with four dead Americans. It was all about the “talking points” and how Obama could exploit this, not about the death’s of four brave Americans.

The Weekly Standard has the transcript of the key parts of the discussion:

Lynch: “They certainly weren’t accurate. I don’t know what the process was there. But, absolutely, they were false. They were wrong. There were no protests outside of the Benghazi compound there. This was a deliberate and strategic attack on the consulate there. So any statements that this was sort of like the other protests that we saw in Cairo and other embassies- this was not that type of case. This was a concerted effort. ”

Wallace “How do you explain the fact that that Sunday, UN Ambassador Rice came on this show and 4 other Sunday shows- never mentioned Al Qaeda extremists which had been scrubbed from the talking points- but did mention a reaction to the anti-Islam video which had never been in any of the talking points?”

Lynch: “Well it was scrubbed- it was totally inaccurate. You’re absolutely right. There was no excuse for that. It was false information. And what they tried to was harmonize what happened in Benghazi with what happened everywhere else across the Middle East. Which was totally wrong.”

Wallace: “And do you think part of that was- do you think it was scrubbed because of the fact that didn’t fit into President’s narrative that Al Qaeda was on the run?”

Lynch: “Well I, yeah, I think it was a victory of ‘hope over reality’- to be honest with you. They were hoping this wasn’t the case.”

As they say, the cover-up is always worse than the crime. However, in this case because four Americans died, both are equally as bad. It is obvious this cover up took place to play a four corners offense and delay the truth so that the reelection of Barack Obama could take place first, rather than “The One” having to deal with a “Watergate” prior to the 2012 election. And the MSM was all too willing to oblige.

I would say to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, it looks like Benghazi just got a bit more recent.

Benghazi-gate: Names of Benghazi Whistle-Blower Witnesses Revealed … Mark Thompson, Gregory Hicks and Eric Nordstrum

BENGHAZI-GATE … The Whistle-Blowers Edition:

As reported by FOX News, the names of the three “whistle-blowers” who will testify next Wednesday at a Congressional Committee on the Benghazi massacre are Mark Thompson, Gregory Hicks and Eric Nordstrum. White House spokesperson Jay Carney may think that Benghazi happened a long time ago; however, these “whistle-blowers” are about to make the Benghazi White House cover up a very current problem. From the Blaze comes the following people who will be testifying; Gregory Hicks, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya at the time of the September assault; Mark Thompson, former Marine and deputy coordinator for operations at the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau; and Eric Nordstrom, the former top security officer in Libya. Nordstrum also testified in front of the House Oversight committee back in October (VIDEO), saying staff at the US consulate in Benghazi lacked sufficient protection; however, Thompson and Hicks have yet to speak publically.

Think about this in its totality. The PJ Tatler brings up a very interesting point. How damning do you think these individuals testimony is if the White House was willing to threaten them with the end of their careers if they testified, you can be sure they will have something interesting to add to what we know about the attack. A terror attack blamed on a video tape by the Obama Administration where four Americans were murdered as no one came to their aid.

Their identities have been a well-guarded secret, known only to their high-powered lawyers and a handful of House lawmakers and staff. But now Fox News has learned the names of the self-described Benghazi “whistleblowers” who are set to testify before a widely anticipated congressional hearing on Wednesday.

Appearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will be three career State Department officials: Gregory N. Hicks, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya at the time of the Benghazi terrorist attacks; Mark I. Thompson, a former Marine and now the deputy coordinator for Operations in the agency’s Counterterrorism Bureau; and Eric Nordstrom, a diplomatic security officer who was the regional security officer in Libya, the top security officer in the country in the months leading up to the attacks.

Rep. Issa: GOP Oversight May 8th Benghazi hearing will be streamed live at  http://Oversight.House.Gov at 11:30  here

Last week, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) promised “explosive” Benghazi hearings were coming and said, “direct testimony by eyewitnesses is always the most compelling.” There has been much talk between the House Republicans and the Obama White House that these three men and other have been prevented by the White House to tell their stories of their knowledge of what occurred that night. Many that were there fear of retaliation of losing their job if they testify. This could have devastating effects on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s future run for President.

These individuals are true patriots for coming forward and setting America straight on what happened, even though the Obama White House and their propaganda machine, the MSM, will do everything in their power to slander them, call them liars and undermine their credibility. As the Jawa Report opines, Most likely leftist and Bronco Bama’s  MFM are working hard to destroy the credibility of these patriots before the hearing even starts.

“What difference does it make”? ~ Hillary Rodham Clinton

“The future doesn’t belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam” ~ Barack Ohama

“Benghazi happened a long time ago” ~ Jay Carney

Obama White House Mouth Piece Jay Carney Says: ‘Benghazi Happened A Long Time Ago’ … Huh?

White House spokesman Jay the Carney made a rather peculiar comment today when asked about Benghazi and whether the President was aware of people coming forward and whether the White House would let them testify. Carney’s response was “Benghazi happened a long time ago”. Huh? What does that mean, is it no longer important because the Obama White House think they have successfully blocked the investigation? As the Lonely Conservative opines, sounds like he was having his own “What difference does it make?” moment. So I guess because it happened a long time ago, that diminishes the fact that the families, friends and Americans who demand answers are not entitled to them according to WH thinking. Was September 11, 2012 really that long ago?

Carney went on to say, “We are unaware of any agency blocking an employee who would like to appear before Congress to provide information related to Benghazi.” Yea, they know of no agencies, just people who are doing so. It all depends on what is, is.

It is unbelievable that “whistle-blowers” had to lawyer up as Obama Admin threatening Benghazi whistleblowers.

GOP Report on ‘Fast and Furious’ Blames 5 ATF Officials for Failed Gun Walking Program

The first shoe has dropped in the Republicans investigation into the ‘Fast and Furious’ scandal. The GOP report names five ATF officials for the disastrous gun walking program that oversaw the sale of nearly 2,000 guns to buyers for Mexican drug cartels and contributed to the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. Up next will be the House commencing legal action against Attorney General Eric Holder to enforce the Contempt of Congress charges. Also, a second of the three reports that is expected to look at the alleged breakdown in management within Department of Justice headquarters with a special focus on the deputy attorney general’s office and the DOJ’s criminal division.

Republican investigators pinned the failures of “Operation Fast and Furious” on five officials in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in a scathing joint congressional draft report issued Monday evening.

The 211-page draft report, obtained by The Hill, called on the Obama administration and the Senate to bolster the leadership of the ATF — which has been without a permanent director for six years — in order to move beyond the failed gun-tracking operation that led House Republicans to place Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress last month.

Specifically, the report pins blame on former Special Agent in Charge of the Phoenix Field Division William Newell, former Deputy Assistant Director for Field Operations William McMahon, former Assistant Director for Field Operations Mark Chait, the former Deputy Director William Hoover, and former acting ATF director Kenneth Melson.

When will Eric Holder step down before or after the 2012 elections?

Hill Poll: 56% believe Obama Over-reached Blocking Fast and Furious Docs with Executive Privilege, Only 29% Approve

Add yet another headache to the Obama 2012 reelection campaign …

According to a Hill poll, a majority of voters disagree with President Barack Obama’s blocking the ‘Fast and Furious’ documents from the House by evoking executive privilege. The Poll showed that that by a 2 to 1 margin of likely voters disapproved of Obama’s assertion of presidential power in the case. The end result, 56% of voters disapproved of his use of executive privilege, while only 29% approved.

A clear majority of likely voters believes President Obama has exercised his executive power inappropriately — particularly in blocking the release of documents relating to Operation Fast and Furious, according to a new poll for The Hill.

But in a sign that the electorate’s frustration extends to Capitol Hill, voters by a significant margin also feel Congress has behaved in an obstructionist manner toward the president.

Amid the discontent over the behavior of both Obama and members of Congress, the poll found a strong preference among voters for a return to one-party rule in Washington.

Democrats have accused Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) of a political witch hunt against Obama’s Attorney general Eric Holder; however, this poll seems to say quite the opposite. It will be difficult for Obama and Democrats to continue those talking points when their position is not supported by the People. Obama and his minions have greatly miscalculated “We the People” and the fact that a US Border agent Brian Terry died as a result of the government gun running program. People want answers and so do the parents of Brian Terry. No one likes a cover-up when some one died. Most transparent President in history, eh?

House Panel Recommends Attorney General Eric Holder Contempt Citation Along Party Lines 23-17 … Full House Vote Set for next Week

Following President Barack Obama’s last second rescue of Attorney General Eric Holder and invoking Executive Privilege in the Fast and Furious scandal, the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee  recommended that Holder be cited for contempt of Congress. The vote was along party lines, 23 to 17. Committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) went forth with the measure, saying the White House assertion of executive privilege “falls short” of any reason to delay the hearing.

Voting on strictly partisan lines, a House committee recommended Wednesday that Attorney General Eric Holder be cited for contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents relating to the botched Fast and Furious weapons sting operation.

The vote ended an extraordinary daylong hearing that took place after President Barack Obama asserted executive privilege over some documents sought by the panel investigating Fast and Furious.

The committee measure now goes to the full House for consideration, expected next week, of what would be an unprecedented event — Congress holding a sitting attorney general in contempt.

Mere minutes after the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s decision, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA.) announced that the full House will vote on the contempt measure next week. If this vote goes forward, it will be interesting to see what Democrats Representatives do who are in “swing” and “battleground” states.

“While we had hoped it would not come to this, unless the attorney general reevaluates his choice and supplies the promised documents, the House will vote to hold him in contempt next week,” the Republican leaders said in a statement. “If, however, Attorney General Holder produces these documents prior to the scheduled vote, we will give the Oversight Committee an opportunity to review in hopes of resolving this issue.”

Just how many US Representatives are going to appear to the voters as being for withholding documents against the family of slain border agent Brian Terry? The family of murdered Brian Terry has stated that Barack Obama has made matters worse by invoking “executive privilege”.

Terry family attorney Pat McGroder on Wednesday released the following statement from Terry’s parents Josephine Terry and Kent Terry Sr.: “Attorney General Eric Holder’s refusal to fully disclose the documents associated with Operation Fast and Furious and President Obama’s assertion of executive privilege serves to compound this tragedy. It denies the Terry family and the American people the truth.”

The Terrys said that their son “was killed by members of a Mexican drug cartel armed with weapons from this failed Justice Department gun trafficking investigation. For more than 18 months we have been asking our federal government for justice and accountability. The documents sought by the House Oversight Committee and associated with Operation Fast and Furious should be produced and turned over to the committee. Our son lost his life protecting this nation, and it is very disappointing that we are now faced with an administration that seems more concerned with protecting themselves rather than revealing the truth behind Operation Fast and Furious.”

Deal or No Deal … NO DEAL: Rep. Issa and AG Eric Holder Meet, No Docs Provided by Justice Dept … Issa Says ‘disappointed’ & Contempt of Congress Vote Against Holder will Move Forward

Deal or No Deal … NO DEAL!!!

Its a game of Contempt of Congress chicken between Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa and Attorney General Eric Holder. Issa and Holder met yesterday in what proved to be a waste of time and more of the same with the obstruction and the AG not turning over documents that have been subpoena with regards to the “Fast & Furious” scandal that left a US border patrol agent dead. Holder failed to produce the requested documents and according to Rep. Issa, the contempt vote against Holder will go forward in the House.

The meeting between Attorney General Eric Holder and Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Darrell Issa has ended after 20 minutes of discussion. Holder came with an offer of a briefing on Fast and Furious documents, but did not physically turn over any documents. This is unsatisfactory to Issa who has said repeatedly that in order for Holder to avoid a contempt vote Wednesday at 10 AM, he must hand over 1300 Fast and Furious documents to the Committee.

“The documents they may choose to give in the future, we need before tomorrow,” Issa said to reporters. ““Ultimately the documents needed for postponement seem to be in their possession.”

Holder’s failure to produce documents at the 5 PM meeting come after he failed to present them by this morning as requested, after he failed to respond to an October 2011 subpoena as requested and after more than a year of requests for transparency surrounding his role in Operation Fast and Furious.

Senator Charles Grassley, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, also issed a statement:

“The Attorney General wants to trade a briefing and the promise of delivering some small, unspecified set of documents tomorrow for a free pass today.  He wants to turn over only what he wants to turn over and not give us any information about what he’s not turning over.  That’s unacceptable.  I’m not going to buy a pig in a poke.  Chairman Issa is right to move forward to seek answers about a disastrous government operation.”

From The American Spectator … The Documents, No Peace.

The “Fast and Furious” scandal, coupled with “Leek-gate” and the Unconstitutional acts by Barack Obama is going to cost him dearly in the 2012 election.