WASHINGTON — President Obama yesterday struggled to gain control of the IRS scandal that has exploded like a powder keg and poses the biggest threat yet to his presidency.
“It’s inexcusable and Americans have a right to be angry about it, and I am angry about it,” Obama declared at a White House press conference — where he said the acting head of the IRS had been told to resign.
Obama proposed a three-part plan to “fix” the IRS’s targeting of Tea Party and other politically conservative groups for extra scrutiny of their tax-exempt status, which was detailed in a report this week by the Treasury inspector general.
Obama announced that the first move to quell the crisis of confidence swirling around the administration was the forced resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller.
Obama said all of those responsible would be held accountable.
He also promised “new safeguards” at the IRS and to work “hand-in-hand with Congress” to find out what went wrong and how to fix it.
But the president tried to turn the tables on Republicans, cautioning his political opponents not to use Congress’ investigative authority to slam his presidency.
“Congress — Democrats and Republicans — owe it to the American people to treat that authority with the responsibility it deserves and in a way that doesn’t smack of politics or partisan agendas,” he warned. “Because the one thing that we’ve seen across the board, everybody believes what happened [at the IRS] is an outrage.”
“The good news is that it’s fixable,” he said.
Brenda Roames, a leader of the Greenwich Tea Party Patriots of South Jersey, wasn’t impressed.
“He says he’s going to hold parties accountable. Really? How many times have we heard that,” said Roames, who says her group was harassed by the IRS.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky also was skeptical.
“More than two years after the problem began, and a year after the IRS told us there was no problem, the president is beginning to take action,” he said.
“These allegations are serious — that there was an effort to bring the power of the federal government to bear on those the administration disagreed with, in the middle of a heated national election,” he said. “We are determined to get answers, and to ensure that this type of intimidation never happens again at the IRS or any other agency.”
Earlier yesterday, Attorney General Eric Holder (far right) went on offense for Obama, promising that an FBI probe of the IRS would be “national” and possibly include serious criminal charges.
“This will not be about parties, this will not be about ideological persuasions. Anybody who has broken the law will be held accountable,” Holder told the House Judiciary Committee.
He said the potential charges against IRS officials could include violations of civil-rights laws or the Hatch Act, which bars federal workers from some partisan political activities.
The tough talk from the country’s top lawman came as House Speaker John Boehner demanded prison time for anyone who used the IRS as a political weapon.
“My question isn’t about who is going to resign. My question is who’s going to jail over this scandal,” Boehner (R-Ohio) declared at a Capitol Hill press conference.
Other fast-paced developments continued unfolding.
* Prior to resigning, Miller, the acting IRS chief, continued to blame two “rogue” employees for the “overly aggressive” scrutiny of Tea Party groups, according to CNN.
* Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) called on Obama to give a full accounting of the scandals involving the IRS, and the Justice Department having seized phone records from The Associated Press.
“I don’t think anyone truly believes that the president has given us a sufficient answer for America, much less the press,” Rangel told MSNBC.
* At least two conservative religious organizations, the Jewish pro-Israel group Z Street and the evangelical ministry of the Rev. Billy Graham, claimed they also were victims of IRS harassment.
“Someone in the administration was targeting and attempting to intimidate us,” Graham’s son, the Rev. Franklin Graham, wrote in a letter to Obama.