Trump Weighs in on Biden's Latest Autopen Admission
Overpromised and Underdelivered
Washed-Up CNN Commentator Proves Donald Trump Stole the Election
Eric Adams' Takedown of Zohran Mamdani Is About As Brutal As It Gets
You Won't Believe How Democrats Are Trying to Use EpsteinGate Against Trump
Ghislaine Maxwell Is Ready to Spill the Beans on Epstein's Sex Trafficking Operation
Trump's About Had It With Putin
Defense Officials Ditch Liberal Elite Aspen Summit Just Hours Before Kickoff
Homan Drops the Hammer on Left-Wing Protester at TPUSA Summit
Adams Blasts Cuomo's Latest Decision in the NYC Mayoral Race
Under Biden, Illegal Aliens From This Country Crossed the Border in Droves
Ten Unaccompanied Minors Recovered From California Cannabis Farms
The Trump Administration Just Scored Another Major Victory at SCOTUS
Graham Hints at Trump’s Next Move Regarding Russia
George Santos Says He May Not Survive Prison
Tipsheet

Carney Categorically Denies White House Knowledge of IRS Targeting, Then Backtracks


During today's contentious press briefing, White House spokesman Jay Carney categorically denied that anyone inside the White House knew about the IRS' policy of applying heightened scrutiny to conservative organizations prior to late April of this year.  Minutes later, he was forced to walk back his own assertion, instead claiming that he personally was "not aware" of anyone at the White House having knowledge of that IRS practice:

Advertisement


This was a significant and telling mistake.  The only straight answer of the afternoon was hastily revised under antagonistic questioning from a skeptical press corps.  This looks sloppy and slippery at best, suspicious at worst.  Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer explains how and why Carney made a serious misstep:



Some things still don't add up here.  The "inappropriate" IRS policy was in place for years (and was coincidentally instituted just as the national debate over Obamacare reached a fever's pitch), prompting gales of protest from the targeted groups.  Carney says the White House never asked if the complaints were well-founded, even as they were being reported in the press.  If that's true, why not?  Carney also claims the White House was finally briefed about the brewing scandal in April, but no one bothered to tell the president, who supposedly first saw the story in the media on Friday.  This strains credulity.  A hyperpolitical abuse-of-power bombshell was about to fall out of the sky onto the president's domestic agenda, and the White House was given a three weeks of advanced notice -- but nobody informed the boss?  Finally, if the president's team didn't have any inkling of impropriety regarding the IRS, tax records and political opponents, how did a senior Obama administration official come to know
Advertisement
confidential details about the tax status of political lightning rod Koch Industries in late 2010, after the IRS began targeting conservatives?

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement