First Read: “While the president’s defiant tone on Benghazi probably would have been enough to quell things under normal circumstances, the times aren’t normal right now. The rule of three (toss in IRS and AP) means the president’s credibility is truly on the line right now with the public. No amount of denial or outrage will be as persuasive to the public right now and the president’s political foes know it. And that’s why you saw some senators yesterday going even further, hitting the White House on the implementation of health care or Mitch McConnell who attempted to use the IRS news to connect the dots and claim a concerted effort was taking place all over the government to target conservatives or limit freedoms. Many of these charges are baseless but the environment right now for the White House is a mess and they are in a position where it’ll be a lot easier for issues to stick to them. The Teflon is wearing off.”

Jill Lawrence wonders whether the drama “could be dramatic enough to move even the phlegmatic Obama
administration to action. Three concurrent scandals or controversies are
just too many. Could that mean we will be bidding farewell soon to
Attorney General Eric Holder?”

President Obama said “those responsible for any improper scrutiny of conservative groups’ tax status would be held ‘fully accountable,’ hours before it emerged that the current and former heads of the Internal Revenue Service were informed last May that tea-party groups had been targeted,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The IRS said in a statement that acting Commissioner Steven Miller was first told by the agency staff on May 3, 2012, that some specific groups’ applications for tax-exempt status were improperly selected for extra scrutiny based on their names.”

The Washington Post reports “officials in Washington and at least two other offices were involved with investigating conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, making clear that the effort reached well beyond the branch in Cincinnati that was initially blamed.”

The Week: 4 scandalous elements of the IRS debacle.