Obama fires back at scandal claims
Source: AFP |
May 17, 2013, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
US President Barack Obama yesterday confronted three alleged scandals Republicans claim are evidence of abuse of power and cover-ups.
They concerned an assault last year on a US mission in Libya, the targeting of conservative groups by tax officials and a Justice Department trawl of reporters' phone records.
The White House released 100 pages of e-mails which it said debunked Republican charges it had covered up the true circumstances of last year's Benghazi attack, which killed four Americans.
Then, Obama sacked the acting head of the Internal Revenue Service, Steven Miller, and pledged full cooperation with Congress over claims the agency had unfairly investigated right-wing groups hostile to his White House.
"Given the controversy surrounding this audit, it's important to institute new leadership that can help restore confidence going forward," Obama said.
The president pledged to work directly with Congress as it carries out oversight into the matter.
He also backed a "reporter shield" bill designed to strengthen the rights of journalists to protect sources, as a storm intensified over the government's seizure of Associated Press reporters' call logs.
The release of e-mails showed the development of the administration's narrative in the days after the Benghazi attack on September 11 last year, which killed US ambassador Chris Stevens.
There had been claims Obama's aides engaged in a cover-up to disguise the involvement of Islamic extremists in the attack and to head off damage to his re-election campaign.
The correspondence details a spirited debate between senior officials in several agencies about how to publicly describe the attack, and its causes, in talking points for members of Congress and the press.
But it appears to show that the CIA, and not senior White House or State Department officials, had taken the lead in developing the talking points and in omitting key information about possible action by extremists.
They concerned an assault last year on a US mission in Libya, the targeting of conservative groups by tax officials and a Justice Department trawl of reporters' phone records.
The White House released 100 pages of e-mails which it said debunked Republican charges it had covered up the true circumstances of last year's Benghazi attack, which killed four Americans.
Then, Obama sacked the acting head of the Internal Revenue Service, Steven Miller, and pledged full cooperation with Congress over claims the agency had unfairly investigated right-wing groups hostile to his White House.
"Given the controversy surrounding this audit, it's important to institute new leadership that can help restore confidence going forward," Obama said.
The president pledged to work directly with Congress as it carries out oversight into the matter.
He also backed a "reporter shield" bill designed to strengthen the rights of journalists to protect sources, as a storm intensified over the government's seizure of Associated Press reporters' call logs.
The release of e-mails showed the development of the administration's narrative in the days after the Benghazi attack on September 11 last year, which killed US ambassador Chris Stevens.
There had been claims Obama's aides engaged in a cover-up to disguise the involvement of Islamic extremists in the attack and to head off damage to his re-election campaign.
The correspondence details a spirited debate between senior officials in several agencies about how to publicly describe the attack, and its causes, in talking points for members of Congress and the press.
But it appears to show that the CIA, and not senior White House or State Department officials, had taken the lead in developing the talking points and in omitting key information about possible action by extremists.
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