Pfeiffer and Ryan Address a Week of Scandal

White House Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer retiterated the Administration's position that they only found out about the inspector general's IRS report a few weeks ago, and even then they did not know the facts in it.

"For very good reasons the White House stays from away from the IRS and lets them do their business, " Pfeiffer said.

The IG's report released this week found that members of the Cincinnati tax exempt division set apart tea-party sounding organizations for higher scrutiny.

The IRS said it was in an effort to deal more efficiently with an ever-increasing workload.

"There will be a top down review at IRS," Pfeiffer said, calling the actions "outrageous."

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who followed Pfeiffer in a separate segment, said this issue is far from over.

What IRS has produced is an audit, Ryan pointed out, they are conducting an actual investigation now.

Among the questions Ryan still has for the IRS is why, when Congress has specifically asked whether targeting was going on for the past year, the agency was not forthcoming.

"This is abuse of power to the nth degree," Ryan said.

Both guests were also asked about Benghazi, and whether the details that have emerged from emails released by the White House clear up the matter of who edited the talking points and why.

Ryan said the Benghazi whistleblowers have already stated that it was clear the attack there was by terrorists.

Pfeiffer defended the administration, and said the emails confirm that all parties were concerned about protecting the integrity of the investigation.

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Key Members React to Benghazi Revelations

House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) said the House committees briefed on the events of September 11, 2012, were told within days that the event was a terrorist attack.

“Going into September 16 (the day US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice appeared on Sunday morning TV) the general consensus was it was a terrorist attack,” and they changed the narrative, Rogers said. “The question is why.”

Congressman Adam Smith (D-WA), the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, says he doesn’t think the Obama administration misled the public.

He added that he is more interested in finding out who these extremist elements are.

“We don’t have enough information as we need to,” about those people, Smith said.

Rogers, in his capacity as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee agreed with Smith on that front.

 “I am not happy with the progress of investigation,” Rogers said. 

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Two House Oversight Committee Members Preview Wednesday's Benghazi Hearing

Rep Stephen Lynch (D-MA) and Rep Jason Chaffetz (R-AZ), both members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, previewed the Committee’s hearing on Benghazi, which will feature “whistleblower” State Department employees as witnesses.

Rep. Chaffetz says he thinks one of the witnesses will contradict  the administration’s claim that the US didn’t have military assets close enough to respond more quickly to the assault on the mission.

Chaffetz said there are other potential witnesses who are watching and waiting, “afraid of retribution,” should they testify as well.

“At every single turn the administration has impeded this investigation,” Chaffetz added.

Rep. Lynch referred to an investigation carried out by the Accountability Review Board to argue that the administration has not been negligent in carrying out its investigation.

The board found “no breach of duty,” Lynch said.

They made a determination that the host country (Libya) “walked off the job basically,” Lynch said.

Lynch did fault the authorities for mishandling the original talking points which were presented to the public by Ambassador Susan Rice shortly after the September 11, 2012 attack.

Lynch said the talking points that said the attack grew out of a YouTube video and protest were “certainly not accurate”.

“Hope over reality” is how Lynch explains the misleading talking points.

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Manchin and McCaul Discuss Boston Marathon Bombing, Intelligence Assessments Regarding Syria

Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) sat down this morning with “Fox News Sunday.” The two key lawmakers offered their perspectives on the unfolding Boston Marathon bombing investigation.

As new details have emerged from the FBI that toy car remote controllers were used to detonate the bombs, Chairman McCaul pointed to the level of sophistication and tradecraft of the alleged bombers to corroborate his belief that a trainer was involved. McCaul also stated his disappointment with Obama administration officials in dismissing any foreign involvement, citing their ‘rush to judgment,’ as the FBI investigation just recently began.

Despite the current uncertainty regarding a foreign or domestic trainer, McCaul believes that the “mother [of the alleged bombers] played a very strong role in the radicalization process…I think there is a connection there.”

Senator Manchin expressed reservations of his own in how the Obama administration handled the investigation. Manchin would’ve liked the interrogation process to have gone further before Miranda rights were read to the suspected bomber in hopes to extract as much information as possible.

Some have speculated on a possible association between the Boston bombings and the ricin-laced letters sent to public officials. On Saturday, the FBI arrested Everett Dutschke in connection with the mailing of letters containing ricin to President Obama, Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS), and a local judge. Despite the recent bombings at the Boston Marathon, McCaul quickly asserted that the two are “totally unrelated.”

Following this week’s statement from a top Israeli military intelligence analyst that Syria has “clearly used deadly chemical weapons against armed rebels,” Syria has quickly emerged into the international spotlight. Sarin – a nerve agent that is 500 times more toxic than cyanide, is said to be among Syria’s stockpile.

Manchin, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, noted that the briefings he’s attended indicate that Syria has used chemical weapons. Nevertheless, Manchin would not support an approach comprised of U.S. boots on the ground. Instead, the West Virginia Senator believes that the United States must coordinate other strategies with NATO and other allies in the region.

Senator Feinstein and Congressman King Offer Differing Views on Boston Bomber

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said suspect #2 in the Boston bombing, Dzhokar Tsarnaev, is in "no condition to be interrogated at this point and time."

Davis said the brothers were clearly planning more attacks, probably against soft targets.

"Clearly they had other explosives, they detonated them" in the Watertown chase, Davis said, adding that a "significant amount" of explosives were found at the scene of the arrest.

Davis also said that authorities were not closing in on the suspects when the FBI released the photos, but that they "decided to go active" after their pictures were publicized.

Two leading Congressional members in intelligence and foreign policy matters also joined "Fox News Sunday" and gave their take on the events throughout the week as well as the ongoing investigation.

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee and Representative Pete King (R-NY), a former chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, took different positions on how the investigation should proceed.

Senator Feinstein argued forcefully that Dzhokar Tsarnaev should not be treated as an enemy combatant.

"It would be unconstitutional to do that," she said.

Feinstein said that federal authorities are competent to conduct this investigation, along with the help of HIG, the interrogation unit formed in 2009.

Feinstein added that she believes this will likely be a death penalty case under federal law.

King took the opposite point of view.

The congressman said he is not as concerned with a conviction, he thinks that will happen, but the intelligence his top priority.

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Senator Marco Rubio: Upcoming Immigration Legislation Is Not Amnesty

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), a key player in the immigration reform debate and a member of the “gang of 8,” joined “Fox News Sunday” to discuss some of the key parts of a bill the gang hopes to present this week.

Conservatives, and Rubio himself, have held a hard line against supporting any legislation that looks like amnesty in the past.

Rubio said for him that hasn’t changed.

This is not amnesty, Rubio said.

The senator argued that it will actually be more difficult for an illegal immigrant to gain legalization through this proposed system than the existing process.

They don’t “get anything,” Rubio said, “they have an opportunity to apply,” which entails paying fines and taxes, and they receive no federal benefits in exchange.

Even before the 11 million estimated undocumented immigrants have an opportunity to apply for a green card, this plan sets forward a number of objectives which must be achieved-among them a secure border.

Under the “gang of 8” proposal, DHS must present a plan that would achieve 100% surveillance of the border and a 90% apprehension rate of illegal crossers.

Rubio said the plan gives DHS 5 years to implement and succeed in their plan. If they fail, a border commission will be established to come up with a more effective strategy.