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Sen. Ted Cruz compared the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS to the Watergate scandal during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday.

The Texas Republican and presidential candidate blasted the Obama administration in his opening remarks, saying "When Richard Nixon did it it, it was wrong and he rightly resigned from the presidency in disgrace."

"No politician has the right to use the machinery of the executive branch to target their political enemies," he went on to say.

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, facing calls for his resignation by House Republicans, was testifying before the committee Wednesday afternoon. Koskinen pushed back against calls for his ouster, noting he has testified before Congress nearly 30 times in the past year and a half on the matter.

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