Considering the Accountability Review Board (ARB) “investigation team” never questioned Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, or U.S. Libyan #2 person on the ground, Greg Hicks, I’m sure the oversight committee has multiple questions about how an investigation could reach conclusions absent of proper information.

(Via CBS) The chairman of the House Oversight committee has issued a subpoena to compel the co-chairman of the independent review board that investigated last year’s attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, to answer questions about its findings in closed session.

California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa issued the subpoena on Friday to retired veteran diplomat Thomas Pickering to force him to appear at a deposition next Thursday. (more…)

WASHINGTON DC – Obama administration officials who were in key positions on Sept. 11, 2012 acknowledge that a range of mistakes were made the night of the attacks on the U.S. missions in Benghazi, and in messaging to Congress and the public in the aftermath.

The officials spoke to CBS News in a series of interviews and communications under the condition of anonymity so that they could be more frank in their assessments. They do not all agree on the list of mistakes and it’s important to note that they universally claim that any errors or missteps did not cost lives and reflect “incompetence rather than malice or cover up.” Nonetheless, in the eight months since the attacks, this is the most sweeping and detailed discussion by key players of what might have been done differently. (more…)

There are just some jaw dropping discoveries coming forth from the Congressional IRS Hearings and the investigative reporting being done into the background and substance of the claims.

(*note* liar avoidance 101 teaches you that when a person says “to be honest with you” as the lead to their next statement – they are NOT to be trusted.  Ever.   Honest people do not need to qualify when they are honest, and when they are lying.)

First: The IRS intentionally withheld the information last year until after the 2012 election cycle because they knew it would destroy the chances for the Democrats and President Obama specifically. Even to the extent they intentionally misled congress:

The Treasury Department’s inspector general testified at a congressional hearing Friday that he had informed Obama administration officials of an investigation into improper scrutiny of conservative non-profit groups by the Internal Revenue Service during the run-up to the 2012 election.

J. Russell George told Treasury’s general counsel of the investigation on June 4, and Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin — then-Sec. Timothy Geithner’s No. 2 — “shortly thereafter,” according to the New York Times.  (link)

(more…)

(Via CST) Sneed hears President Barack Obama, who is this/close to Holder, has set his sights on Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick as a possible replacement “when the heat dies down on the latest hot-button scandals to hit the U.S. Justice Department,” said a top White House source.

Last year, Holder became a hot button over a congressional probe of the sale of government guns to drug cartels.

This time it’s the double whammy of an IRS scandal and the U.S. Justice Department’s seizure of Associated Press reporters’ phone records — which has caused a media uproar. (more…)

(Via Slate)  If you are a customer of Verizon Wireless, you might want to consider switching carriers in light of the Associated Press phone snooping scandal.

When the feds came knocking for AP journalists’ call records last year, Verizon apparently turned the data over with no questions asked. The New York Times, citing an AP employee, reported Tuesday that at least two of the reporters’ personal cellphone records “were provided to the government by Verizon Wireless without any attempt to obtain permission to tell them so the reporters could ask a court to quash the subpoena.” (more…)

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POTUS deploys Marines for rain in Rose Garden with Turkish PM Erdogan. twitter.com/MajorCBS/statu…

— Major Garrett(@MajorCBS) May 16, 2013

Many people have been wondering exactly what was the reason the Eric Holder DOJ used their power to peer into the Associated Press.    Some water-carrying progressives have been claiming the “danger” to national security was so great, the overreaching self-approved subpoena to track 20 phone lines of 100+ reporters was excusable.

Not.Even.Close.  As it turns out, the issue was one of the DOJ retaliating against the AP over the AP decision to ignore a White House request to withhold information for 24 hours just to benefit their ongoing narrative.

AP’s story about the foiled plot was at odds with the calming message the White House had been conveying on the eve of the first anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden.  (link)

As the Washington Post outlines;  The DOJ tracking was retaliation for the AP not holding their story for an additional DAY: (more…)