During Rose Garden press conference, Obama refuses to apologize for secretly seizing AP phone records, shifts blame to Congress for Benghazi security lapses, and dodges question about White House IRS knowledgeBy David Martosko In Washington
PUBLISHED: 12:18 EST, 16 May 2013 | UPDATED: 12:46 EST, 16 May 2013
President Barack Obama dodged questions Thursday about the IRS's targeting of conservative groups, shifted responsibility for the Benghazi attack to Congress, and said 'I offer no apologies' for the Department of Justice's secret seizure of reporter's phone records in search of a classified intelligence leak.
In a rain-soaked Rose Garden press conference originally intended to be a victory lap for the United States' relationship with Turkey, Obama stood alongside Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan and fielded questions which quickly shifted to the trio of scandals that are engulfing his administration.
*snip*On the IRS scandal, Obama wouldn't commit to saying no one at the White House knew about the targeting of conservative groups before the White House Counsel was informed just days ago.
'I certainly did not know anything about the IG report before the IG report was leaked to the press,' he said, without addressing the question of whether any of his political appointees in the West Wing of the White House were aware that the IRS was playing political favorites.
He also did not address information outside what the IRS Inspector General reported.
'My main concern is fixing a problem,' Obama said.
'It is just simply unacceptable for there to be even a hint of partisanship' in the IRS.
But he suggested that IRS employees may simply not have had sufficient 'guidance' on the fair fulfillment of their duties.
*snip*Addressing the Benghazi fallout pre-emptively before Erdogan spoke, Obama said that 'at my direction, we've been taking a series of steps that were recommended by the review board.'
He spoke of various measures he was recommending, to 'learn the lessons of Benghazi.' But he referred to the murders of four Americans there as an 'incident,' not a terror attack.
And his remarks focused on 'properly funding' the State Department and Pentagon-run security at diplomatic posts, shifting the burden to Congress to 'provide resources and new authorities so that we can implement all the recommendations of the Accountability Review Board which issued a report last month.
*snip*But despite Obama's plea for more funding, money was not an issue in the months before the Benghazi attack when consular officials in Libya asked the State Department for more security forces.
*snip*Obama expressed 'complete confidence' in Attorney General Eric Holder, whose Justice Department deputies saw two months of phone records from Associated Press reporters and editors.
Holder has told Congress he recused himself from the investigation, but admitted Wednesday during a Capitol Hill hearing that he failed to put that recusal in writing.
The investigation centered on a secret CIA operation in Yemen that foiled a terror plot to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner.
'Leaks related to national security can put people at risk,' Obama said, citing 'men and women in uniform' and 'intelligence officers.'
'U.S. national security is dependent on those folks being able to operate with confidence that folks back home have their backs.'
'I offer no apologies' for putting a high premium on national security, he said, while also allowing that the First Amendment's press freedoms are important to him philosophically.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2325606/During-Rose-Garden-press-conference-Obama-refuses-apologize-secretly-seizing-AP-phone-records-shifts-blame-Congress-Benghazi-security-lapses-dodges-question-White-House-IRS-knowledge.htmlGotta love barky, dontcha? At least the petulant little cretin is consistent in his thumbsucking and stonewalling. I do find it interesting that the press wanted to know more about the "scandals" than whether or not the Turkish PM liked the hummus (no clue if there was any, just sayin'). I wonder if the press took note that he basically told them to get bent?
