How Not to Handle a Scandal

“When confronted with its worst scandal in decades, the IRS broke virtually every public relations rule on the books,” Politico reports.

“The agency could have first informed Congress that it was improperly targeting conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. It could have issued a comprehensive press release. It could have even leaked to a friendly media outlet to get out in front of the story.”

“The IRS did none of those things. Instead, it took the highly unusual step of planting a question in the audience at an obscure law conference to get the word out about the controversial program.”