This post at The Hill on the IRS scandal brushes, but does not grasp, the truly scary potential of the matter. Judging from previous reports, both the White House Chief of Staff and the White House Counsel knew of the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS.
It is very difficult to believe that they knew and did not inform the President. If they informed the President and he did nothing to stop the targeting then - and those of you who are familiar with cases where corporate executives knew of and failed to stop various transgressions will be sensitive to this - we are into "omission" territory where the President knew of grave misconduct and, by not fulfilling a duty to act, permitted it to continue.
That is very dangerous territory for any executive, including the President of the United States. One might even say especially for the President of the United States given that one of the arguments brought against Richard Nixon was that he used the IRS to harass political opponents
But some of you may ask, "What if they didn't tell the President?" That is a highly unlikely scenario but it raises another troubling question: "If they knew and didn't tell him, why weren't they immediately fired once he knew of their dereliction?"
2 comments:
As much grief as Reagan for Iran Contra "What's worse, his knowing or his not knowing?" I'm sure that Obama will have similar scrutiny on his scandals from our watchdog media.
Dan,
The President's answer to the question about "IRS targeting" knowledge that was raised at the joint press conference with the leader of Turkey was less than reassuring. The White House is not getting on top of this matter and may be depending upon protection by the media. That is a mistake.
Michael
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