Press Releases

Recently, the Obama Administration has been called into question over scandals with the ongoing investigation of the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, the IRS targeting Americans based on their political beliefs, and the Department of Justice probe of AP records.

Representative Bucshon (IN-08) released the following statement:

“Trust in this Administration is eroding. The recent events have demonstrated a disturbing and questionable trend that includes a lack of transparency and honesty concerning the terrorist attack in Benghazi. Not to mention, the facts that have already been confirmed relating to the IRS and AP are alarming and show a clear abuse of power by multiple Federal agencies under the President’s watch. The investigation is not over as there are still many unanswered questions.

“Our role as members of Congress is to determine the facts behind these events on behalf of the American people, not jump to conclusions.  Once the facts are established, we can move forward with changes that will ensure this type of government abuse of power never occurs again.

“The American people deserve the assurance and peace of mind that they will not be unfairly targeted by this Administration and will be provided the truth from their elected officials. I will continue to monitor these situations to ensure the offending parties are held accountable.”

BACKGROUND:

IRS:

A timeline of events on the IRS targeting American citizens based on their political disposition can be found here - http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/05/10/irs-apology-conservative-groups-2012-election/2149939/.

According to the Inspector General for Tax Administration report, the IRS inappropriately targeted groups based on politics, delayed the processing of these groups applications, requested the political affiliations of the members of these groups, and required unnecessary information from these groups like social media posts, donor rolls, the books members were reading, and prayer habits of members.

According to the Inspector General these problems were not sufficiently corrected and the IRS “will need to do more so that the public has reasonable assurance that applications are processed without unreasonable delay in a fair and impartial manner in the future.”

On Friday, May 17th, the House Committee on Ways and Means held a hearing to question the acting IRS Chief Steven Miller.

On Wednesday, May 22nd, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing titled, “The IRS: Targeting Americans for Their Political Beliefs.” During the hearing, Lois Lerner, who was the first to acknowledge the IRS’s misconduct, refused to give testimony.

According to an Evansville Courier & Press editorial, the “President must act to shore up IRS’s credibility.” (Evansville Courier & Press; 5/15/13)

Benghazi:

On May 8, 2013, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee held a hearing with testimony from three career diplomats about the events that occurred on September 11, 2012. Even after the hearing, many questions about what transpired still are left unanswered including: “Who denied the U.S. mission in Benghazi the increased security it requested months before the terror attacks? Who gave the order for special operations forces to stand down, preventing them from helping their compatriots under attack?  What was the actual military capability and preparedness to respond to the mission’s requests for help?”

Following the hearing, editorials across the country echoed this sentiment:

 “We’re left with consequences of Benghazi decisions that … need to be explained to Americans – the families of Doherty, Woods, Smith and Stevens included.” (Chicago Tribune; 5/13/13)

“Even after explosive congressional testimony … the nation is left with a growing list of unanswered questions.” (Augusta Chronicle; 5/10/13)

 “There are a lot of questions still about Benghazi. And Hicks and his dead colleagues deserve to have them answered.” (Arizona Republic; 5/10/13)

 “Four Americans … were killed by terrorists who have not been brought to justice.  A congressional investigation is warranted…” (Baltimore Sun; 5/20/13)

 “That is something that deserves tough, strong, independent scrutiny … to answer critical nagging questions and set the historical record straight.” (New York Daily News; 5/12/13)

AP:

“Feds seize AP phone records for criminal probe.” (USA Today; 5/13/13)

On CBS Face the Nation, AP president and CEO referred to the Department of Justice probe as "so sweeping, so secretively, so abusively and harassingly overbroad." (CBS; 5/19/2013)