Reid comes to Obama aid on Benghazi, IRS scandals

WASHINGTON — Coming to the aid of President Barack Obama, Sen. Harry Reid on Tuesday charged Republicans with “grandstanding” on the U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi, and on reports the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups applying for tax exemptions.

The Senate majority leader from Nevada said Republicans were silent when the IRS during the Bush administration was accused of threatening the NAACP, Greenpeace and the All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena, Calif., after a preacher delivered an anti-war sermon in 2004.

“What the IRS did was inexcusable but this is not the first time we have seen this,” Reid said . “Where was (Republican) outrage when groups from the other side were under attack?”

On Benghazi, Reid said Republicans are trying to “give President Obama a black eye” rather than help track down the attackers of the U.S. consulate in Libya last September who killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others including Nevadan Tyrone Woods.

At a Republican-organized House hearing last week, State Department whistle-blowers raised questions about the Obama administration’s response to the attack. GOP lawmakers said the disclosures show the administration attempted to downplay terrorism as a cause in a bid to protect the president during his re-election campaign, a charge that Democrats dispute.

“This is about smear politics and nothing else,” Reid said.

At the same time Reid was defending the Obama administration, he criticized the Department of Justice for seizing phone records of Associated Press reporters while investigating a national security leak last year.

“It is inexcusable and there is no way to justify it,” said Reid, who added press freedoms under the First Amendment are “one of the great things we have as a country.” He said Justice investigators could have gone to AP first and asked for cooperation before taking further action.

Reid said he will look into whether any laws need to be strengthened in response to the incident.

Reid said the latest IRS scandal underscores a need for Congress to revisit the DISCLOSE Act, a campaign finance bill that would have required tax exempt political groups to report the names of large-money donors. It failed to overcome a Republican filibuster during Senate votes in the summer.

Beyond the IRS issue , Reid said “there are shadowy political groups masquerading as social welfare organizations in order to solicit anonymous donations.”

“What has Karl Rove ever done to improve the social welfare of the United States,” Reid said, referring to the former White House political adviser who helped organize the American Crossroads, the leading Republican super-PAC.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Follow him on Twitter @STetreaultDC.