memeorandum: Bob Woodward criticizes IRS ‘fiction’ (Tal Kopan/Politico)

1:05 PM ET, June 4, 2013

Top Items:

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Bob Woodward criticizes IRS ‘fiction’ — The Washington Post's Bob Woodward says the Obama administration has explaining to do on the IRS scandal and needs to answer questions about who knew what, when. — “This fiction that somehow [The IRS is] totally an independent agency is absurd,” …

Discussion: Yahoo! News and No More Mister Nice Blog

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Accuse first and ask questions later — A third House committee joined the stampede to examine the IRS on Monday, and its chairman did exactly what you would expect somebody to do before launching a fair and impartial investigation: He went on Fox News Channel and implicated the White House.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, Taylor Marsh, Right Wing News, Taegan Goddard's …, The Huffington Post and The Hill

Associated Press:
IRS victims testify as new agency scandal emerges

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Wake up America

Jack Gillum / Associated Press:

Emails of top Obama appointees remain a mystery — WASHINGTON (AP) - Some of President Barack Obama's political appointees, including the Cabinet secretary for the Health and Human Services Department, are using secret government email accounts they say are necessary to prevent their inboxes …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Weekly Standard, White House Dossier, Coloradoan Online, Jammie Wearing Fools, National Review, Michelle Malkin, The Verge, Power Line, Wake up America, americanthinker.com, The PJ Tatler, The Jawa Report, Washington Free Beacon and Washington Times

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

Bush Administration Appointees Also Used ‘Secret E-mail Addresses’ — The Associated Press reported Tuesday that some Obama administration officials utilize non-publicly listed e-mail addresses in addition to their publicly listed ones. But a ThinkProgress Freedom of Information Act request revealed …

Discussion: Hit & Run and The Raw Story

Zack Colman / E2-Wire:
Report: Obama appointees using secret email accounts

Discussion: Hot Air, Politico and Outside the Beltway

Josh Barro / Business Insider:

Erick Erickson Shows Everything That's Wrong With The GOP — Conservative pundit Erick Erickson doesn't like me. This morning he wrote 900 words about why. — But the main thing his post reveals is what's wrong with Erickson - and with a Republican party that is built to appeal to people like Erickson.

Discussion: Paul Krugman and Brad DeLong

Erick Erickson / RedState:

On Conservative Reformers — There is a lot of back and forth chatter going on right now in the DC-NYC corridor about conservative reform. This is problematic because the people talking about reform are in Washington and New York, the two places least likely to lead any version of conservative reform.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Other McCain and The Daily Caller

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Obama Names 3 to Top Appeals Court in Challenge to Republicans — WASHINGTON — President Obama set a confrontation with Senate Republicans in motion on Tuesday morning by naming a slate of judges to a top appeals court and daring his rivals to block their confirmations.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Yahoo! News, The Caucus, New Republic, The Stranger …, The Maddow Blog, The Hugh Hewitt Show, The Hinterland Gazette and A plain blog about politics

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Obama dares GOP to block three nominations to critical court

Discussion: Politico

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Rubio: Senate immigration reform bill lacks 60 votes

Discussion: Politico

The Atlantic Wire:

The Latest Navy SEAL Book Could Impact the Military's Transgender Rules — In every Navy SEAL is a memoir, it seems lately. Retired SEAL Kristin Beck's new memoir, published on Tuesday and titled Warrior Princess, is a bit different, though. In it, Beck describes how …

Discussion: AMERICAblog, Outside the Beltway, Towleroad News #gay, Shakesville and Hullabaloo

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
SEAL Team 6 Vet Comes Out As Transgender In New Memoir

Discussion: ABCNEWS and The Raw Story

Brandon Webb / SOFREP:
Breaking: Meet The First Female Navy SEAL, Kristin Beck

Discussion: Business Insider and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Democrats' 2014 strategy: Own Obamacare — Scarred by years of Republican attacks over Obamacare, with more in store next year, Democrats have settled on an unlikely strategy for the 2014 midterms: Bring it on. — Party strategists believe that embracing the polarizing law …

Discussion: Via Meadia, americanthinker.com and CNBC

David M. Drucker / Washington Examiner:
Immigration bill lacks the 60 Senate votes needed to pass

Discussion: Mediaite, Hot Air, The Plum Line and ABCNEWS

Dr. Keith Ablow / Fox News:

Is Obama waging psychological warfare on Americans? — I believe that the Obama administration is conducting psychological warfare on conservative Americans. Not only that but it is also waging this war on all Americans who previously viewed themselves, their country …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Shakesville and Outside the Beltway

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

How Christie Can Maximize the G.O.P.'s Chances in New Jersey — The death of Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey, creates a confusing electoral situation in the state. There are conflicting interpretations of exactly what New Jersey's law requires — whether a special election …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Wonkblog, americanthinker.com, Daily Kos, Real Clear Politics, DownWithTyranny!, The Plum Line, The PJ Tatler and The Reaction

New York Times:
Death of Senator Places Christie in Difficult Spot

Discussion: msnbc.com, Taegan Goddard's … and WJLA-TV

Jarrett Renshaw / New Jersey Online:
Top Democrat to Christie: Hold senate election in November for Lautenberg's seat

Discussion: The Week, Post Politics, First Read and Rothenblog

Bernie Becker / The Hill:

Six conservative groups to appear before Ways and Means on Tuesday — Six groups have been scheduled to give first-person accounts of the IRS's targeting of conservative organizations on Tuesday, the House Ways and Means Committee announced Monday. — The Ways and Means hearing on Tuesday …

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, americanthinker.com and Towleroad News #gay

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
Treasury IG official compares IRS scandal to Nixon

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools, The Other McCain and Weasel Zippers

Noah Feldman / Bloomberg:

Court's DNA Ruling Brings U.S. a Step Closer to ‘Gattaca’ — The day that DNA cheek swabs officially became the new fingerprints deserves to be marked and remembered — and not just because of the inevitable march of technology. — No, the Supreme Court's 5-4 holding today in Maryland v. King …

Discussion: SCOTUSblog and Althouse

Nina Totenberg / Law:
Supreme Court Rules DNA Can Be Taken After Arrest

Discussion: SCOTUSblog, Overlawyered, USA Today, msnbc.com, Washington Post and Politico

Valerie Strauss / The Answer Sheet:

Mississippi governor: Educational troubles began when ‘mom got in the workplace’ — VIDEO — Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) said Tuesday that America's educational troubles began when women began working outside the home in large numbers. — Bryant was participating …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, The Maddow Blog, Post Politics and The Hinterland Gazette

Tara Bahrampour / Washington Post:

Baby boomers are killing themselves at an alarming rate, raising question: Why? — Last spring, Frank Turkaly tried to kill himself. A retiree in a Pittsburgh suburb living on disability checks, he was estranged from friends and family, mired in credit card debt and taking medication for depression …

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Clayton Cramer's Blog

Jeremy Herb / The Hill:

Military brass oppose removing sexual assault cases from chain of command — Military leaders on Tuesday expressed unified opposition to stripping commanders of the power to decide where sexual assault cases are prosecuted. — In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Prairie Weather and CNN

Kirby Dick / New York Times:
Don't Trust the Pentagon to End Rape

Discussion: msnbc.com

Nicole Flatow / ThinkProgress:

Citing Stand Your Ground, Jury Acquits Man Who Killed Wife's Lover — As trial approaches for the man who generated national controversy over Stand Your Ground laws when he shot dead 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on a Florida street, a jury has acquitted another man under Florida's controversial law …

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

House Republicans broken into fighting factions — On New Year's Day, in a cramped room in the Capitol basement, House Republican leaders faced an angry caucus. Democrats had negotiated them into a corner — virtually every American would be hit with a massive tax increase unless …