GARY BAUER

  To: Friends & Supporters

From: Gary L. Bauer


BREAKING NEWS: GOSNELL GUILTY


Abortionist Kermit Gosnell has been found guilty on three first-degree murder counts for infanticide. He was also convicted on scores of other charges, including involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy.


Benghazi: What's Next?

It's a busy news day in Washington with a lot to digest. The Obama Administration is on its heels -- defending itself against two scandals with tremendous implications and each one striking at the administration's credibility.

This is the time to turn up the heat! American Values, my public policy organization, has put up a new web video about why Benghazi matters. Please share it with friends and family. If you would like to see this ad on TV, click here to make a tax-deductible gift to American Values.

After last week's hearings, many are wondering "what's next?" Here are some things to watch for.

• Friday's White House press briefing by Jay Carney has been described as a "resurrection" for the media. After years of covering for Obama, major media players are conceding that the Benghazi story is real.
  
  The New Yorker, a left-wing publication, wrote, "For a long time, it seemed like the idea of a coverup was just a Republican obsession. But now there is something to it." Liberal columnist Maureen Dowd wrote that the Obama Administration's response to Benghazi is like Clinton-era déjà vu: "It's not true, it's not true, it's not true, it's old news."
  
  I think some reporters are genuinely embarrassed by their lack of professionalism over the past five years. I'm betting some will continue to press for answers.
  
  
• Republicans in Congress have been emboldened by last week's testimony and subsequent news coverage. Obama has been in the driver's seat for years, and especially so since his reelection. But last week's whistle-blower testimony was a rare occasion in which congressional Republicans were on attack and Team Obama was headed toward a foxhole.
  
  I hope Speaker Boehner does not conclude that this is all that needs to be done. Pressure is growing, as it should, to form a select committee to investigate glaring unanswered questions. Questions like: Who ordered U.S. forces to stand down? And where was the president and what was he doing on the night when Americans were dying?
  
  
• Washington is rife with rumors that more government officials are telling congressional investigators that they want to come forward as whistle-blowers too. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) said his committee has been contacted by officials wanting to testify.
  
  What makes his statement intriguing is that Rogers is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. It would be particularly dangerous for the White House if there are folks at the CIA wanting to tell their side of the story.
  
  Think about this: We know the CIA immediately told the State Department it was Al Qaeda-linked terrorists who attacked the consulate. But we now know that the State Department and the White House were telling the CIA, "You can't say that!" So, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice went on five national talk shows and blamed the attack on a video.
  
  When that ridiculous lie fell apart, the White House said, "That's what the CIA and intelligence community told us!" When caught lying, they lied again and blamed the CIA for giving them bad intelligence!
  
  Perhaps what the White House fears most is public testimony under oath from former CIA Director General David Petraeus. In November, Petraeus told members of Congress during closed-door testimony that he "knew almost immediately" that the attack on the consulate was carried out by Ansar al Sharia, an Al Qaeda group in Libya.
  
  It has been reported that he was furious with the watered-down talking points. While it is true that Petraeus left the CIA as a result of a personal scandal, the White House continues to insist that the CIA under his leadership provided bad information that he knows is not true. If Petraeus comes forward with new details, the Benghazi scandal could escalate dramatically.

At a press conference today with British Prime Minister David Cameron, President Obama could not avoid the Benghazi scandal. But his petulance came out again when he seemingly scolded a reporter for asking whether his administration had misled the American people. Like Nixon, Obama doubled down, dismissively saying, "The whole issue of the talking points has been a sideshow."

Is he serious? Let's see how reporters handle that one! That's almost like Gary Hart challenging the media to follow him -- and we know how that turned out.


The IRS Scandal

Dumping bad news on a Friday afternoon is an old Washington tactic for releasing embarrassing information when many folks aren't paying attention. This administration has made the practice a matter of routine. Friday proved to be no exception when it was revealed that the IRS has been targeting groups with "Tea Party" or "Patriot" in their names for extra scrutiny.

We were initially told that probes were conducted by low-level officials in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2012. It was a big mistake, but no one else in the chain of command knew about it. The IRS is really sorry. But just like the Benghazi talking points, by the end of the weekend it was clear that the news dump on Friday was filled with lies.

Not only had IRS officials engaged in unacceptable behavior (the kind of stuff that forced Richard Nixon out of the White House), but there is now evidence that top officials at the IRS did know conservative groups were being targeted. Instead of 2012, the investigations started in 2010. And the scope of the targets was very broad -- including pro-Israel groups, organizations concerned about government debt and taxes and those "educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights." (See item below.)

Not surprisingly, congressional Republicans are furious and demanding investigations. This could be huge. Keep in mind, friends, that this is the same agency charged with enforcing Obamacare. No other administration in recent memory has so dramatically expanded its power.


The Rotting Fish

Remember Frank VanderSloot? He was an Idaho businessman "outed" by the Obama campaign for supporting Mitt Romney. Within weeks, he was subjected to an IRS audit and a Labor Department investigation. VanderSloot's story never got into the mainstream news. The IRS was clearly being used to punish Obama's enemies, but the media didn't care.

Soon after Obama took office, the word went out to operatives throughout the government, "Keep an eye on people educating about the Constitution and bill of rights." It didn't take long before the Department of Homeland Security was on the lookout for "right-wing extremist activity." The military is telling troops to look out for extremists like "Evangelicals" and "Catholics."

Does anyone think this is a coincidence? There is a phrase that applies: "A fish rots from the head down."

Even if you can't establish direct orders, all these people put into place by Obama know what he wants and they know who he sees as the enemy. As Newt Gingrich put it this morning, this is an administration that refuses to profile terrorists but is profiling patriots!

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