Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) tore into IRS commissioner John Koskinen on Friday, saying he doesn't believe that many of ex-IRS official Lois Lerner's emails were lost.

Ryan told Koskinen during his testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee that it was "misleading" to say the emails had been lost.

"That’s your problem. Nobody believes you," Ryan said.

Ryan went on to say claims that the emails were lost are "incredible" and "unbelievable."



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/20/paul-ryan-irs_n_5515442.html

Prosecutors allege that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) was at the center of a criminal conspiracy to illegally coordinate the activities of independent conservative groups during recall elections in his state in 2011 and 2012, according to documents released Thursday and first reported on by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Prosecutors contend in the documents that Walker had direct knowledge that his top deputies R.J. Johnson and Deborah Jordahl were involved in the alleged illegal coordination between the Walker campaign and 12 conservative groups.

The documents, part of a John Doe investigation, were unsealed in a lawsuit brought by the Wisconsin Club for Growth, the central player in the alleged illegal coordination, and other groups seeking to halt the investigation as a violation of their First Amendment rights. The prosecutors' allegations are based on extensive testimony and findings from the parties involved.

In one unsealed email from Walker to Karl Rove, chief political strategist to former President George W. Bush and founder of the well-funded independent groups American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, the governor described Johnson's alleged role in coordinating Republican efforts in the recall elections.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/19/scott-walker-investigation_n_5512463.html

An impassioned Sen. Elizabeth Warren appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball and made a strong case for fighting to rebuild the middle class through investments in jobs and infrastructure while at times butting heads with host Chris Matthews over the Democratic Party’s efforts.

Promoting her new memoir, ‘A Fighting Chance,’ Warren was challenged by Matthews to explain how Democrats could give Americans “real hope” for a future with “meaningful familiy-building employment that seems to be gone in so much of the country.”

“Well, you know, this isn’t magic,” she replied. “We actually know how to do this. We did this for nearly half a century, coming out of the great depression until about 1980. We made the investments together that helped build opportunity for all of us.”



http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/19/elizabeth-warren-on-creating-jobs-this-isnt-magic-we-actually-know-how-to-do-this/

MADISON, Wis. — Newly released documents show prosecutors are alleging Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was at the center of a nationwide “criminal scheme” to illegally coordinate with outside conservative groups.

The documents were filed as part of an ongoing lawsuit challenging the probe by the conservative group Wisconsin Club for Growth. They were ordered publicly released Thursday by a federal appeals court judge after prosecutors and the Wisconsin Club for Growth did not object.

One of the filings from prosecutors outlines previously unknown details about the investigation that began in 2012 as Walker was facing a recall election.

Prosecutors say Walker, his chief of staff and others who worked for him were discussing illegal coordination with a number of national groups and prominent figures, including GOP strategist Karl Rove.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/prosecutors-gov-walker-part-of-criminal-scheme/2014/06/19/6b8de66c-f7db-11e3-8118-eae4d5b48c7d_story.html?wpisrc=al_comboPN_p

Libya on Wednesday condemned U.S. special forces’ arrest of a man on its soil suspected of masterminding a deadly Islamist militant attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, describing the detention as a violation of Libyan sovereignty.


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/18/secret-u-s-raid-that-captured-benghazi-suspect-violated-our-sovereignty-libya-says/


The GOP says it was all faked and staged. I guess they should inform the Libyans. No one was there.

Lobbyists in Washington are pouring money into Sen. Thad Cochran's (R-Miss.) runoff campaign, helping the six-term incumbent with a long history of securing funds for well-represented industries in Washington battle his toughest challenge in more than three decades.

Registered lobbyists and lobbying firms' political action committees have given nearly $500,000 to Cochran's primary and runoff campaigns against tea party-backed state Sen. Chris McDaniel, according to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by The Huffington Post.

McDaniel's strength against Cochran in last month's Senate primary raises crony capitalism as an issue, as it has been in other Republican Party primaries including the defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/18/thad-cochran-lobbyists_n_5505467.html

I realize facts don't matter to evil ghouls like Cheney, but credit for the rise of ISIS can be laid right on his doorstep.

Iraq provides terrorists with "a training ground, a recruitment ground, the opportunity for enhancing technical skills," said David B. Low, the national intelligence officer for transnational threats. "There is even, under the best scenario, over time, the likelihood that some of the jihadists who are not killed there will, in a sense, go home, wherever home is, and will therefore disperse to various other countries."

Low's comments came during a rare briefing by the council on its new report on long-term global trends. It took a year to produce and includes the analysis of 1,000 U.S. and foreign experts. Within the 119-page report is an evaluation of Iraq's new role as a breeding ground for Islamic terrorists.


And that's before al-Maliki took the reins and shut out the Sunnis entirely from any participation or voice in government.


http://crooksandliars.com/2014/06/dick-and-liz-cheney-pretend-they-never-had

Ahmed Abu Khatallah, the suspect captured by U.S. special forces on Tuesday for his role in the 2012 Benghazi attack, reportedly said he was motivated in part by the anti-Islam online video made in America, according to the New York Times.

"What he did in the period just before the attack has remained unclear. But Mr. Abu Khattala told other Libyans in private conversations during the night of the attack that he was moved to attack the diplomatic mission to take revenge for an insult to Islam in an American-made online video," Times reporter David Kirkpatrick wrote in a story on Khattala on Tuesday.

Immediately following the attack, Khattala declined to say whether the video had anything to do with his role in the Benghazi attack, according to the Times.

The New York Times reported in December that the attack was fueled in part by the anti-Islam video, but did not link Khattala to the video in that investigation.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/khattala-benghazi-video-new-york-times

Retiring House Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann said in an interview Friday with Huffington Post’s Ryan Grim that Republicans have nothing to fear from the rise of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and her views on economic inequality.

The New Yorker magazine this week called Republican upstart David Brat “the Elizabeth Warren of the right” after his surprising defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) in the Virginia Republican primary.

Bachmann scoffed at the comparison. Brat, she said, is much better than that.

“I don’t see Elizabeth Warren as someone Republicans have to worry about, not at all,” Bachmann told Huffington Post. “Elizabeth Warren, after all, was a major advocate of Dodd-Frank.”

The 2010 Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and sought to put in place market protections to prevent another financial crash like 2008.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/14/michele-bachmann-jabs-at-elizabeth-warren-shes-no-populist/

Hours after Senate Republicans voted to block Elizabeth Warren's student loan bill, the #3 Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, told Jon Stewart:

"You can refinance your home, you can refinance your car, but the federal government doesn't allow you to refinance your college loan if you're paying too much. Why shouldn't we do that? We're gonna keep going at it. We're going to bring this bill up over and over."

Elizabeth Warren also declared she will barnstorm the country with key Senate candidates, campaigning on this issue.