An Administration of Scandals

For the Obama Administration, scandals have become a sad but common reality. Throughout the series of scandals surrounding Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the IRS and Associated Press, the president’s behavior has become predictable and irresponsible. Scandal after scandal, the president has resorted to accusing others of wrongdoing, offering a late, empty apology or ignoring the situation entirely. For this president, taking responsibility for scandals or even acknowledging the presence of wrongdoing under his watch is rare indeed.

The first scandal to arise under President Obama was a gunwalking operation performed by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that ultimately put guns in the hands of dangerous criminals along the Mexican-American border. To numerous ATF agents, it was certainly a controversial operation from the beginning, but nevertheless the strategy of selling arms to straw buyers was approved, with the hope of tracing those weapons back to Mexican drug cartel leaders. Even though agents made numerous arrest recommendations, ATF and the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked for further evidence causing agents to see the same individuals buy weapons and ultimately put lives in Mexico and America at risk.

This dangerous operation and questionable nature of its gunwalking strategy was revealed to the public upon the death of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. While he was on duty near the Mexican border in late 2010, Terry was killed by individuals in possession of guns that had been purchased within the operation. Understandably, this outrage quickly led to congressional investigations into the ATF and DOJ, but the information provided was rarely consistent and some documents were illegally withheld. Due to the uncooperative DOJ, Attorney General Holder was later held in contempt of Congress for not turning over documents to help resolve the investigation; his first knowledge of the operation is still under question. Rather than cooperate with the investigation, the president invoked executive privilege over the documents needed and protected Holder from any scrutiny. As we have since learned, less than half of the guns authorized during the operation have been recovered and others have been found at crime scenes in Mexico and the United States. Possession of these guns are responsible for the deaths of more than 200 individuals in Mexico.

Like Fast and Furious, there was certainly a priority of playing politics over protecting Americans with the Benghazi terrorist attacks. Nearly a year ago on September 11, our country was heartbroken over the attack on our consulate in Libya that resulted in the death of four brave Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. While State Department officials initially called the situation a spontaneous attack stemming from an anti-Muslim video, evidence later pointed to a planned terrorist attack by Ansar al-Sharia—a group directly connected to Islamic terrorists. Even though this information was made known to the State Department almost immediately after the attack, the explanation provided to the American people by United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice blamed the murders on a protest invoked by the video. A subsequent investigation found that consulate staff suspected danger and had requested backup months before the attack happened, but no help was given.

Earlier this year in May, more abuses of power were found in a Cincinnati branch of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), where it was discovered that conservative and religious groups were purposefully targeted and highly scrutinized when seeking tax-exempt status. This assault on the First Amendment had been taking place since at least February 2010 and most often delayed applications of groups associated with the tea party. Again, this illegal behavior under the watch of the Obama Administration was unconstitutional, illegal and inexcusable because it penalized individuals for holding certain viewpoints. In addition, it attacks and jeopardizes the exercise of free speech our founding fathers sought to protect.

Around the same time as the IRS scandal, the American people were shocked by evidence that the DOJ had secretly seized numerous phone records at the Associated Press (AP) and several journalists were specifically targeted. Not only did this situation anger reporters and cause their sources to question privacy rights, but it was also yet another assault on the First Amendment right to free speech and free press. Obama explained, “Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs. Our focus must be on those who break the law.” However, in addition to the AP surveillance, DOJ specifically targeted Fox News Reporter James Rosen as a possible criminal and seized his private emails; a warrant signed off personally by Holder. Still, there has been no change in leadership at DOJ and very little acknowledgment of the situation by the president.

Obama recently acknowledged the scandals surrounding his Administration, “With this endless parade of distractions and political posturing and phony scandals, Washington has taken its eye off the ball. I’m here to say this needs to stop.” This statement is just another attempt to brush off and play down abuse of power. Unfortunately, it isn’t working and America now expects an executive branch that abuses its power more than it protects the nation’s people. After needless loss of life, unconstitutional targeting and unnecessary surveillance, our country wants answers and for the individuals responsible for these outrageous abuses of power to be held accountable for their actions.