Reuters: Regulatory News: UPDATE 1-Obama calls IRS actions outrageous, seeks to neutralize crises

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UPDATE 1-Obama calls IRS actions outrageous, seeks to neutralize crises May 13th 2013, 20:44 Mon May 13, 2013 4:44pm EDT * Obama says controversy over Benghazi has political motivations * Rubio calls for resignation of acting IRS chief * IRS to be focus of congressional investigations By Jeff Mason and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON, May 13 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday called the targeting of conservative groups by U.S. tax officials "outrageous" and said that any Internal Revenue Service employees involved should "be held fully accountable." Obama's comments, during a news conference with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron, marked the first time the president had spoken publicly about the IRS scandal. The scandal was ignited last Friday, when an IRS official revealed at a meeting of tax lawyers that the agency had inappropriately singled out Tea Party and other conservative groups for extra scrutiny of their claims for tax-exempt status. As lawmakers in both parties expressed outrage on Capitol Hill on Monday, Obama - who said he first learned about the IRS's targeting of conservative groups on Friday - said that he had "no patience" for such actions. "The IRS as an independent agency requires absolute integrity, and people have to have confidence that they're applying ... the laws in a nonpartisan way," Obama said. While making clear that he considers the IRS scandal a serious concern, Obama took a dimmer view of another issue dominating his administration's time: the ongoing probe by congressional Republicans into the deadly attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, last September. That, Obama said, has been a political "sideshow." The Benghazi matter flared up again last week after internal emails were made public showing that in the days after the attack, the administration tried to shape "talking points" to explain why four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, had been killed. Obama rejected Republicans' claims that the administration tried to cover up the role of Islamist militants in the attack to avoid looking weak on terrorism eight weeks before the presidential election. Obama said Republicans have had political motives in criticizing him, his staff and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a potential 2016 presidential candidate. "The whole issue of this - of talking points, frankly, throughout this process has been a sideshow," he said. "The whole thing defies logic. And the fact that this keeps on getting churned out, frankly, has a lot to do with political motivations." For the White House, the political sniping over Benghazi combined with the new flap over the IRS has placed it on the defensive, just as the administration is trying to bounce back from failing to get a gun-control bill through Congress and continues to wrangle with Republicans over budget and deficit issues. "This will be another issue that takes the administration way off message," said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist. "There's no way they can punch through with a positive agenda while investigations of the IRS are going on." REPUBLICANS, DEMOCRATS UPSET Lawmakers from both political parties heaped criticism on the IRS on Monday. Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, a favorite of the conservative Tea Party movement and a potential 2016 presidential candidate, called for the resignation of acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller. "(It) is clear the IRS cannot operate with even a shred of the American people's confidence under the current leadership," Rubio wrote in a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. Obama's fellow Democrats joined Republicans in calling for there to be consequences for any wrongdoing by the IRS. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, promised an investigation by his panel. Republicans in the House of Representatives already had announced they would launch their own investigation. "Targeting groups based on their political views is not only inappropriate but it is intolerable," Baucus said in a statement issued by his committee, which oversees the IRS. Two other Democratic senators, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, seconded calls by Republicans for Obama to punish those responsible for the IRS targeting, which began in 2010 - shortly after the emergence of the Tea Party movement that helped Republicans win control of the House that year. "The administration should take swift action to get to the bottom of this to ensure those responsible for misconduct are held accountable," Kaine said. Obama noted that the U.S. inspector general was investigating the issue. "We'll wait and see what exactly all the details and the facts are. But I've got no patience with it," he said. "I will not tolerate it. And we will make sure that we find out exactly what happened." Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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