memeorandum: Report: Top Obama lawyer told of IRS targeting in April (Meghashyam Mali/The Hill)

10:05 AM ET, May 20, 2013

Top Items:

Obama's Counsel Told of IRS Audit Findings Weeks Ago — The White House's chief lawyer learned weeks ago that an audit of the Internal Revenue Service likely would show that agency employees inappropriately targeted conservative groups, a senior White House official said Sunday.

Discussion: Yahoo! News, Politico, Hot Air, americanthinker.com, Scared Monkeys, The Fix, The Week, American Power, Weasel Zippers and CNN

New York Times:

I.R.S. Inquiry Status Told to White House in April — WASHINGTON — The chief White House lawyer, Kathryn Ruemmler, learned last month that a Treasury inspector general had concluded an audit of the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups, weeks before the matter became public …

Discussion: Politico and msnbc.com

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Report: Top Obama lawyer told of IRS targeting in April

Discussion: LifeNews.com

Chris Wallace / Fox News:
‘Hell week’ for the White House? Reaction from Dan Pfeiffer and Rep. Paul Ryan

Discussion: Yahoo! News

Ann E. Marimow / Washington Post:

A rare peek into a Justice Department leak probe — When the Justice Department began investigating possible leaks of classified information about North Korea in 2009, investigators did more than obtain telephone records of a working journalist suspected of receiving the secret material.

Discussion: The Hill, Guardian, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »

Peter Hart / FAIR:

A Right-Wing Mole at ABC News — Jonathan Karl and the success of the conservative media movement — Conservatives don't just complain loudly, endlessly and inaccurately about liberal media bias. They also train right-leaning journalists to make their way into the supposedly hostile terrain of Beltway media.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Sky Dancing, Crooks and Liars, The Raw Story, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hullabaloo and Little Green Footballs

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:

Justice Department Spied on Fox News Reporter — “When the Justice Department began investigating possible leaks of classified information about North Korea in 2009, investigators did more than obtain telephone records of a working journalist suspected of receiving the secret material,” the Washington Post reports.

Discussion: Riehl World News

Associated Press:
AP CEO calls records seizure ‘unconstitutional’

Discussion: Firedoglake

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Obama gets personal about race and manhood in Morehouse College speech — President Obama on Sunday summoned the graduates of historically black Morehouse College to “transform the way we think about manhood,” urging the young men to avoid the temptation to make excuses and to take responsibility …

Discussion: americanthinker.com, The Hinterland Gazette, The Lonely Conservative, The Gateway Pundit, The Answer Sheet, The Hill and Weasel Zippers

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Prepared text for President Obama's speech at Morehouse

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Jason Horowitz / Washington Post:

Four key Hillary Clinton staffers from 2008 unlikely to sign on for 2016 bid — Howard Wolfson, the 2008 communications director for Hillary Rodham Clinton, has said he will not return for a 2016 presidential campaign. Neither, for that matter, will Neera Tanden, the campaign's policy director.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Taylor Marsh and Balloon Juice

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

How Much Are Obama's Scandals Hurting Him? — Is Obama being hurt by the scandals that have engulfed his administration? That sounds like a silly question: of course the scandals have damaged his image, thrown his administration off message, weakened his ability to get anything through Congress.

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports and CANNONFIRE

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Union for immigration enforcement officers to oppose Senate bill — A union which represents an estimated 12,000 immigration enforcement officers announced Monday it would oppose the Senate's Gang of Eight immigration reform legislation. — In a statement, National Citizenship …

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Columbia University Tries To Alter Scholarship Fund For Students ‘Of The Caucasian Race’ — Columbia University asked a Manhattan judge to allow them to change the requirements of a scholarship fund which limits recipients to members “of the Caucasian race.”

Salon:

Paul Krugman's right: Austerity kills — Austerity kills — radical cuts destroy economies and lives, and the honest numbers and economics keep proving it — Excerpted from “The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills” — “I will never forgive them,” wrote 13-year-old Kieran McArdle to the Daily Record …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jeffrey Lord / American Spectator:

Obama and the IRS: The Smoking Gun? — “For me, it's about collaboration.” — National Treasury Employees Union President Colleen Kelley on the relationship between the anti-Tea Party IRS union and the Obama White House — Is President Obama directly implicated in the IRS scandal?

Discussion: US News, Politico, Weasel Zippers and The Jawa Report

Free exchange:

Der Elefant im Raum — TYLER COWEN writes on the euro-zone economy: … Karl Smith gives the correct response: … Mr Cowen disputes that this solves anything, but his reply reveals why monetary expansion in the euro area is so critical. Mr Cowen first argues that:

Discussion: Paul Krugman and Brad DeLong

New York Times:

Yahoo Is Said to Be Buying Tumblr for $1.1 Billion — By NICK BILTON and MICHAEL J. de la MERCED — Yahoo's board has agreed to buy Tumblr, the popular blogging service, for about $1.1 billion in cash, people with knowledge of the agreement said on Sunday.

Discussion: DealBook, NYT Bits and Joe. My. God., more at Mediagazer »