Political Scandal News
Coverage of government scandals, corruption, and accountability. The Daily Signal reports on scandals with conservative analysis and commentary.
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opinion
Lois Lerner Claimed Lincoln Was Worst President. Why She’s Wrong.
Lerner, the former IRS official who is at the center of a scandal involving the targeting of conservative groups, claims in a newly-released email that Abraham Lincoln is the worst president in the nation’s history. In an email responding to a friend, Lerner wrote, “Look my view is that Lincoln was our worst president not… -
opinion
The Poll Numbers on the Planned Parenthood Scandal CNN Left Out
Regardless of one’s point of view on an issue, you can usually find a poll that shows that a majority of people agree with you. I’d suggest that is exactly what we saw happen on CNN Wednesday, when anchor Alisyn Camerota interviewed Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., about the debate surrounding Planned Parenthood. A May 2015… -
opinion
Anti-Corruption Protests Continue in Central America
For eight consecutive weeks, tens of thousands of people have flooded the streets in Guatemala and Honduras to protest government corruption in what Hondurans are calling “marcha de las anatorches,” or March of the Torches. The protests are a positive step for Hondurans and Guatemalans to keep government officials accountable. Accusations of bribery and tax… -
news
Study Finds IRS Targeted Organizations in Biased Way
A report released on Thursday morning by the Government Accountability Office unveiled that the Internal Revenue Service specifically audited organizations in a biased manner. “The control deficiencies GAO found increase the risk that [the Exempt Organizations unit] could select organizations for examination in an unfair manner—for example, based on an organization’s religious, educational, political, or… -
opinion
Planned Parenthood’s History of Scandal
With more than $500 million in taxpayer funding annually, it’s time for the American people to know the truth about Planned Parenthood. >>> Read More: 6 Scandals Involving Planned Parenthood -
news
House Strips Funding From Planned Parenthood Supporter in Wake of Scandal
The undercover video that sparked a scandal involving Planned Parenthood this week is reverberating beyond the abortion group, costing one of its allies millions of dollars. House GOP leaders had expected the Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coin Act to be uncontroversial until the Planned Parenthood controversy erupted and conservative grassroots organizations sounded the alarm. The… -
news
6 Scandals Involving Planned Parenthood
An undercover video was released Tuesday of a top official at Planned Parenthood discussing the sale of organs harvested from aborted babies. But it is not the first time a scandal has surrounded the organization. In its 2013-14 annual report, Planned Parenthood claimed it has “come a long way” as “our movement has come so far in nearly one… -
opinion
Export-Import Bank Connects US Taxpayers to Foreign Scandal
Marcelo Odebrecht, a Brazilian industrialist of immense wealth and power, was arrested and jailed recently on charges of corruption. He and dozens of other businessmen and politicians are accused of swindling the state-controlled oil company Petrobras—the largest business enterprise (by market capitalization) in the Southern Hemisphere. American taxpayers have a stake in this scandal: Both the… -
news
IRS Employees Erased 422 Backup Tapes Containing 24,000 of Lois Lerner’s Emails
Investigators at the Internal Revenue Service are looking to agency employees as the reason thousands of emails from former IRS official Lois Lerner were lost, and the agency’s watchdog said today their actions were a mistake. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) J. Russell George testified before the House Oversight and Government Reform… -
opinion
Brazil: Corruption Scandals Will Cast a Shadow over Obama–Rousseff Meeting
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will visit Washington next week, her first visit to the U.S. since taking office in 2011. President Obama says they will discuss “a whole range of issues, including climate change, energy, educational exchanges, and science and technology.” But for Rousseff, the Obama meeting will provide a welcome distraction from the unrelenting… -
opinion
Corruption Scandals Tarnish Chile’s Strong Rule of Law Reputation
With an overall score of 78.5, Chile remained the 7th freest economy in the world in the 2015 Index of Economic Freedom and retained its rank as first in the Latin American and the Caribbean region. Beginning with the first edition of the Index in 1995, successive governments in Chile from the center-left and center-right… -
opinion
A Flawed Legal Analysis Is Helping Lois Lerner
On March 31, Ronald Machen, the outgoing U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, wrote House Speaker John Boehner to inform him that the Justice Department would not present Lois Lerner’s contempt citation to a federal grand jury. The letter explaining his decision is an exercise in misdirection—the kind of misdirection that magicians use to… -
news
Loretta Lynch’s Confirmation Moves Forward Despite Lingering Questions About HSBC Scandal
Despite criticism for her decision not to jail the perpetrators of a controversial white-collar crime, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Loretta Lynch this morning to be the next U.S. attorney general, clearing the way for a full Senate vote. In a 12-8 vote, Lynch received unanimous support from the nine Democrats on the Judiciary Committee… -
opinion
Benghazi Scandal: New Pentagon Documents Show Military Knew It Was Islamic Terrorism
Close to 500 pages of Pentagon Benghazi-related documents obtained last week by the non-profit group Judicial Watch prove the U.S. military was operating on the assumption terrorists killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans on the night of Sept. 11, 2012. The papers confirm statements about the nature of the attack to congressional… -
news
6 Charts That Show How Quickly Big Stories and Scandals Fade From the Media
If you’re a politician embroiled in a scandal, the rapidly moving news cycle might be a blessing. A National Public Radio analysis of issues mentioned by reporters during daily White House press briefings found the media’s attention span for various scandals and stories often wanes after just a few weeks. In six charts, NPR shows… -
news
4 Things You Need to Know About the Findings on the IRS Targeting Scandal
The nation’s tax chief decided not to tell Congress that the IRS was targeting conservative groups, an action that would have brought to light the misconduct before the 2012 election, according to a new report from a House oversight panel. The implication, critics say, is that his failure to act protected President Obama from facing… -
news
White House, Justice Sought to Stop Attkisson’s Reporting on Fast and Furious Scandal, Emails Reveal
Newly released documents show the White House and Justice Department targeted investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson in hopes of thwarting her reporting for CBS News on the secretive government operation called Fast and Furious. In an email exchange, a press aide to Attorney General Eric Holder tells a spokesman for President Obama that Attkisson is “out of… -
news
Congressman Seeks to End Program He Calls ‘More Dangerous’ Than IRS Scandal
Calling a secretive government operation to strangle politically out-of-favor businesses “more dangerous” than the IRS targeting scandal, a congressman with a background in banking is preparing to introduce legislation to kill the Obama administration initiative. “I believe this activity is probably more dangerous and more disastrous than that of the IRS scandal because this is running people… -
opinion
Corruption Continues to Hurt Honduran Development
After 2009 socio-political turmoil caused by the constitutional crisis, Honduras has been slowly recovering and reintegrating into the international community. However, the deterioration of confidence in public institutions continues, posing a serious threat to the country’s future development. Over the past couple of months, Honduras has experienced several major corruption scandals. This past September, Hondurans… -
news
Judge Sides With IRS, Dismisses Lawsuits by Conservative Groups Over Targeting Scandal
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., sided today with the Internal Revenue Service and dismissed lawsuits by tea party organizations seeking redress for improper delays and scrutiny of their applications for tax-exempt status. District Judge Reggie B. Walton ruled that two lawsuits by True the Vote and Linchpins of Liberty, along with 41 other conservative…