Why Didn’t We Hear This from Obama?

The NYT has an in-depth, knock-your-socks-off, must-read story about Benghazi  by David Kirkpatrick:

“Months of investigation by The New York Times, centered on extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack there and its context, turned up no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault.

“The attack was led, instead, by fighters who had benefited directly from NATO’s extensive air power and logistics support during the uprising against Colonel Qaddafi.  And contrary to claims by some members of Congress, it was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam.”

I’m sure Darrell Issa and Fox News will be quick to apologize!

Well, That Explains It

Now that we know the IRS was scrutinizing the entire political spectrum, looking for a level of political activity that would disqualify groups from a 501(c)(4) tax exemption with key words like “progressive” as well as words like “Tea Party,” I was wondering why the original Inspector General report that triggered this whole BS “scandal” mentioned only conservative groups.

It’s because Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), the ringmaster of this circus, asked for an audit limited to targeting of conservative groups.

So we’ve come full circle.  He’s an even bigger piece of shit than I thought.

For more, see “Sander Levin:  IRS tea party probe ‘flawed in a fundamental way,’ Lauren French, Politico; “Darrell Issa’s credibility is over,” Alex Seitz-Wald, Salon.com; “Documents Show Liberals in I.R.S. Dragnet,” Jonathan Weisman, NYT

Issa Admits No Evidence of White House Wrongdoing

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Darrell Issa, the GOP congressman leading the witch hunt investigation into Fast and Furious admitted that he has no evidence that the White House was involved either in any cover-up or in misleading Congress.

Of course this won’t stop the Fox Machine from spinning its Second Amendment conspiracy theories or in going after President Obama on this.

I should point out that I’m not a fan of Eric Holder and was disappointed when he was appointed Attorney General.  I was very upset about President Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich, and Holder was up to his eyeballs in that.

Issa Wanted Scalp, Not Documents

Newsweek (Dan Klaidman) reports that former car thief Darrell Issa would have cancelled the contempt vote against Attorney General Eric Holder over Fast and Furious if Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who heads the Criminal Division, resigned.

Matthew Miller, a former Justice communications director, told Klaidman this shows Issa was out for publicity.  “The reason that this contempt motion happened is that Issa didn’t come up with any evidence and didn’t get a scalp.  When you set expectations that high and you don’t deliver, you have to explain why.”