Career diplomats and Benghazi whistleblowers punished, the IRS going after Tea Party groups, the EPA going after farmers and ranchers, and now we hear that the federal government is collecting the phone records of Associated Press journalists.
The enemies list is apparently par for the course and widespread across the government. While some of this widespread targeting of political opponents is receiving criticism from both sides of the aisle, it appears; however, that most of these bipartisan talking points are just the latest example of hypocritical politicians feigning outrage.
On Monday, as I noted on this blog, Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) sent out a prepared statement from his press office that got national attention. Baucus called for a full investigation of the IRS, saying:
BAUCUS: “These actions by the IRS are an outrageous abuse of power and a breach of the public’s trust. Targeting groups based on their political views is not only inappropriate but it is intolerable,” the Montana Democrat said in a statement. “Americans expect the IRS to do its job without passion or prejudice. We need to get to the bottom of what happened here. … The IRS will now be the ones put under additional scrutiny.”
FLASHBACK: Baucus Urged IRS to Investigate Conservatives
The Daily Caller has this:
Democratic Montana Senator Max Baucus is leading an investigation into why the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative nonprofit groups for extra scrutiny despite the fact that Baucus once wrote a letter urging the IRS to do exactly that.
Baucus wrote a letter to then-IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman dated September 28, 2010 urging the IRS to investigative nonprofit conservative groups during the Tea Party-dominated 2010 midterm elections.
Though Baucus identified 501 (c) (5) groups — or labor unions — as worthy of investigation, the only organizations cited in his request were conservative, pro-Republican groups.