Obama Forces Out Acting IRS Commis.; Bachmann on the Air; Tancredo Mulling Another CO GOV Bid

National Journal

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WHAT'S NEWS

  • Pres. Obama said late Wednesday he was "angry" that the IRS singled out conservative groups for extra vetting and announced that the agency's acting commis. had been forced out (National Journal).

  • In an effort to calm the swirl of controversy about the reaction to last year's attacks on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, the WH late Wednesday released more than 100 pages of e-mails that they say show that the key changes in the talking points were made by the CIA and not, as charged by critics, by the WH and the State Dept. (National Journal).

  • AG Eric Holder, testifying at a meeting of the House Jud Cmte Wednesday, told Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), "The way you conduct yourself as a member of Congress is unacceptable and shameful" (National Journal).

  • L.A. Mayor '13: In a new TV ad appearing on Spanish-language channels, Cont. Wendy Greuel (D) "is criticized for having been registered" as a GOPer "during the era" of ex-Gov. Pete Wilson (R), "a figure reviled by many Latinos for his sponsorship" of an immigration ballot measure. In a separate Spanish-language ad scheduled to air Thursday, Councilor Eric Garcetti (D) "is accused of wearing a 'Latino mask' and forcing working-class Latinos out of Hollywood during his revitalization efforts there" (Los Angeles Times).

  • MA SEN Special: Ex-Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez (R) "made some renovations" to his Cohasset home after collecting a "a six-figure federal tax break" for not making exterior renovations in '05, though there's no evidence Gomez "violated the law" in doing so (Politico). When Gomez was seeking the tax break, he "rejected the first appraisal he received because it was too low and then refused to pay the appraiser's bill, according to a claim filed this week" (Boston Globe).

  • VA GOV '13: A new Quinnipiac Univ. poll of RVs, conducted 5/8-13, shows ex-DNC Chair Terry McAuliffe (D) leading AG Ken Cuccinelli (R), 43-38%. In the previous poll, conducted 3/20-25, Cuccinelli led McAuliffe, 40-38% (release).

  • MI SEN: The Obama admin. is considering Rep. Mike Rogers (R) as FBI dir., according to Senate Intel Cmte Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) (National Journal).

  • SD SEN: Rep. Kristi Noem (R) "is still 'taking a serious look' at the race, her consultant Justin Brasell said" (Roll Call).

  • EMILY's List tapped six new Dem House candidates with their "On the List" designation Thursday: ex-Madison Co. Chief Judge Ann Callis (IL-13), state Sen. Katherine Clark (MA-05/potential special), '12 nominee/atty Jessica Ehrlich (FL-13), Bob Graham daughter Gwen Graham (FL-02), atty Eloise Gomez Reyes (CA-31) and Tompkins Co. Legislature chair Martha Robertson (NY-23) (release).

  • MI-14: State House Dem floor leader Rudy Hobbs "announced his candidacy" for the seat being vacated by Rep. Gary Peters (D) (Detroit Free Press).

  • MN-06: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) has purchased TV advertising time for the next two weeks with a Minneapolis station, according to filings with the FCC (Hotline reporting).

  • CO GOV: Ex-Rep. Tom Tancredo (R), who ran in '10 as the nominee of the American Constitution Party and is "known for his hard-line stances on immigration," is "strongly considering" another bid (Denver Post). Tancredo "confirmed his interest to the Washington Post but said 'the word 'seriously' may be too strong'" (Washington Post).

OUR CALL

Hotline editors weigh in on the stories that drive the day

• Who would've thought that Gomez's Cohasset house would end up being a bigger political liability than Markey's home in Chevy Chase?

• Five of the new EMILY's List "On the List" designees are running for Republican-held seats. All but one have something important in common: early support from the DCCC, too. Reyes is the only outlier in CA-31, where the DCCC is backing Pete Aguilar. But there might be another EMILY's List/DCCC conflict brewing: A Democratic source tells us EMILY's List is also talking to Shaughnessy Naughton, who announced Tuesday that she's running in PA-08 against Army veteran -- and DCCC recruit -- Kevin Strouse.

• Tancredo mulling a CO GOV bid is exactly what Democrats would love to hear. In one of the closest WH '12 states, the fact that Tancredo is the biggest name considering coming off the GOP bench speaks to just how popular both Sen. Mark Udall and Gov. John Hickenlooper are a year before Election Day.

HAIR OF THE DOG

FRESH BREWED BUZZ

  • "In private," Obama "has talked longingly of 'going Bulworth,' a reference to a ... Warren Beatty movie about a senator who risked it all to say what he really thought" (New York Times).

  • "It isn't every day that one makes preparations to go and play music for some friends but instead ends up being portrayed in the national press and on the Internet as some sort of antediluvian racist who should not be seen in the company of someone aspiring to the Senate" -- Ex-Rep. Ben Jones (D-GA), whom Rep. Edward Markey's (D-MA) camp disinvited from performing at a Markey fundraiser Tuesday because of Jones' past comments about the Confederate flag (Boston Globe).

  • "[He's casting] aspersions on my asparagus" -- Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), complaining after House Jud Cmte Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) cut off Gohmert's questioning of Holder after his time had expired (Business Insider).

  • VA LG Bill Bolling (R) "announced plans on Wednesday to recruit and support 'mainstream'" GOPers "to run for office in yet another move that undercuts" Cuccinelli, "his former rival" (Washington Examiner).

  • "Live by the sword, die by the sword” -- Ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), in a "cryptic remark to photographers following him toward a subway station" Wednesday; Weiner "insisted no final decision has been made" on a NYC mayoral run, "but he acknowledged one was near" (New York Daily News).

  • At a House GOP conference meeting on Wednesday, NRCC Chair Greg Walden presented a slide with the cmte's recommendations for candidate and cmte polling this cycle, including larger sample sizes, more cell-phone-only respondents, bilingual interviews, oversamples of harder-to-reach demographic groups and a standard battery of questions the cmte would like to see asked in GOP polls (Hotline sources).

  • "I walked in and C-SPAN was on, with John Mica talking. Is it 13 years or is it just one minute?" -- Newly-installed Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC), returning to the House on Wednesday (New York Times).

  • Rep. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is the "new Fastest Man in Congress," running Wednesday's three-mile ACLI Capital Challenge in Anacostia Park in 17:55 (Washington Post).

  • "We don't have money to rent out hotel space and we have to be out of our headquarters by then so I'm not sure what we're going to do" -- Acting AL Dem Party Chair Nancy Worley, who is looking for a place to hold the party's June 1 vote on a new chair after they were evicted from their offices (AL.com).

  • CO Dem strategist Jim Monaghan, who worked for ex-Gov. Dick Lamm (D), ex-Rep. Alan Merson (D), ex-Gov. Roy Romer (D), ex-Sen. Tim Wirth (D), ex-Sen. Gary Hart (D) and ex-Denver Mayor Wellington Webb (D), died Wednesday in Boulder "after a brief illness" (Denver Post).

  • "This is the first thing you've ever given me" -- MD Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), to Comp. Peter Franchot (D), after Franchot presented O'Malley with a check for $271 from Franchot's "unclaimed properties division." O'Malley's "remark prompted laughs from people" attending the Board of Public Works meeting, as O'Malley and Franchot "have had frequent sparring bouts over the years about board decisions" (AP).

  • "Lobbyists perform daring rescue of lawmaker trapped in Capitol elevator" (Des Moines Register).

SWIZZLE CHALLENGE

  • "Tobias Fünke" can't take off his jean cut-offs because is a "never-nude."

  • The winner is Kevin Cerino, and here's his Swizzle Challenge: "A 1996 episode of a popular science fiction television show featured a frequent game show panelist, a future politician, and a game show host in guest starring roles. Name the show and the guest stars." The 2nd correct e-mailer gets to submit the next question.

NJ'S EARLY BIRD SPECIALS

SHOT...

"It seems to me, Eddie, that in this Internet world you and Al Gore invented, things are being simplified to the point of idiocy" -- Jones, turning his op-ed into an open letter to Markey (Boston Globe).

...CHASER

"Just the good ol' boys, Never meanin' no harm ..." -- "Good Ol' Boys", Waylon Jennings, theme song for the "Dukes of Hazzard".

Reid Wilson, Editor-in-Chief

Steven Shepard, Executive Editor