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Questions

Use the three federal agencies listed below (a-c) to answer question #1 and #2:
   a.  IRS 
   b.  Justice Department
   c.  State Department

1. Match the federal government agency with the scandal:

_____ Associated Press scandal: the agency secretly seized work and personal phone records of 20 Associated Press reporters

_____ Benghazi cover-up: the agency covered-up the fact that the attack in Benghazi was a terrorist attack (initially lied and said it had to to with protests over a youtube video)

_____ Targeting of conservative groups for harassment: this agency targeted conservative groups applying for tax exempt status, while granting status to liberal groups with similar goals

2. Over which agency were the following people head at the time of the scandal?

_____ Hillary Clinton 

_____ Lois Lerner

_____ Eric Holder 

3. Regarding each scandal, who said it?

  1. then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the attacks in Benghazi in which four Americans were murdered by Islamic terrorists
  2. President Barack Obama
  3. Attorney General Eric Holder, head of the Justice Department
  4. Lois Lerner, chief of the Internal Revenue Service’s tax-exempt division that went after the Tea Party.

_____ “That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive, and it was inappropriate,” “[Our agency] would like to apologize for that.”

_____ “To avoid any potential appearance of a conflict of interest, I recused myself from this matter.” My deputy “ultimately authorized the subpoena” to secretly obtain the records.

_____ “Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night and decided they’d go kill some Americans? What difference – at this point, what difference does it make?”

_____ “I first learned about it [the IRS targeting conservative groups] from the same news reports that I think most people learned about this. I think it was on Friday.”

4. Which of the three cartoons do you think most accurately depicts media reports on the various scandals in the Obama administration? Explain your answer.


Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the answers.

Cartoon by Steve Breen


 

Cartoon by Glenn McCoy
 

Cartoon by Glenn McCoy

Answers

1. b) Justice Department – Associated Press scandal: the agency secretly seized work and personal phone records of 20 Associated Press reporters
c) State Department – Benghazi cover-up: the agency covered-up the fact that the attack in Benghazi was a terrorist attack (initially lied and said it had to to with protests over a youtube video)
a) IRS – Targeting of conservative groups for harassment: this agency targeted conservative groups applying for tax exempt status, while granting status to liberal groups with similar goals

2. c) State Department – Hillary Clinton
a) IRS – Lois Lerner
b) Justice Department – Eric Holder

3. iv) Lois Lerner – “That was wrong. That was absolutely incorrect, it was insensitive, and it was inappropriate,” “[Our agency] would like to apologize for that.”
iii) Attorney General Eric Holder – “To avoid any potential appearance of a conflict of interest, I recused myself from this matter.” My deputy “ultimately authorized the subpoena” to secretly obtain the records.
i) then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – “Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night and decided they’d go kill some Americans? What difference – at this point, what difference does it make?”
ii) President Barack Obama – “I first learned about it [the IRS targeting conservative groups] from the same news reports that I think most people learned about this. I think it was on Friday.”

4. Opinion question. Answers vary.