Marathon Pundit: Non-answer: Obama dodges question on whether he knew about IRS abuses beforehand

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Non-answer: Obama dodges question on whether he knew about IRS abuses beforehand

Obama doesn't have the 'aw shucks' slipperiness of Bill Clinton, but he's just as slick as the second president to have been impeached.

From Fox News:

President Obama insisted Thursday that he knew nothing about the internal investigation into the IRS' practice of singling out conservative groups for special scrutiny before it was made public.

"I can assure you that I certainly did not know anything about the (inspector general) report" beforehand, Obama said Thursday.

The president, though, did not say whether he was previously aware of the IRS' actions, which allegedly started as early as 2010, well before the inspector general's office began to investigate. Republican lawmakers were inquiring about the alleged targeting of Tea Party groups by the IRS more than a year ago.

Obama, who spoke during a press conference alongside the Turkish prime minister, focused his remarks specifically on the IG report, noting that he wouldn't have caught wind of that report since those investigations are typically kept under wraps. He reiterated that he found the agency's actions "unacceptable" and sought to fix the problem "the minute" he found out about it.