As scandals mount, White House springs into damage control

Reuters: With no sign of an end to three mushrooming scandals, the White House acknowledged the rising political dangers on Wednesday by launching a concerted effort at damage control.

In a whirlwind few hours, the administration moved forcefully to counter criticism of its handling of the deadly attacks in Benghazi, Libya, the seizure of reporters’ phone records in a Justice Department leak investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service’s targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny.

In the most aggressive response, President Barack Obama ousted the Acting IRS Commissioner on Wednesday evening. It was the sort of concerted response that Obama’s political allies had been waiting for, but Republicans’ sceptical reaction shows that Obama has a long way to go to dig his way out of the scandals and build goodwill as he tries to salvage his second-term legislative agenda.

“This was a belated acknowledgment that Obama is in trouble,” said California Claremont McKenna College, Politics Professor, Jack Pitney. “The question is whether it was too little, too late.” After a largely scandal-free first term, the administration had been slow to respond decisively to the growing criticism – mostly from Republican foes but in some cases from Democrats – in the three controversies.

Days of deflecting blame by administration officials had sparked criticism of Obama’s willingness to accept responsibility. During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday afternoon with US Attorney General Eric Holder, Republicans repeatedly attacked the administration for not being forthright on the emerging scandals.

But Obama, known for his deliberative style and an aversion to overreacting, decided on Wednesday it was time to fight back.

Appearing at the White House, he said the administration had forced the resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller and he strongly condemned the agency’s apparent targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny. He promised to cooperate with Congress in an investigation.

Obama’s appearance came shortly after the White House released a series of emails detailing discussions about the now famous ‘talking points’ memos that US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice used when discussing the 11 September 2012, attacks that killed four Americans in Benghazi.