objected.an has the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch. >> mr. secretary, first of all, thank you for your willingness to -- why not i yield you 30 seconds and you can finish? >> i think the fundamental issue here is, there is a separation in the administration of our tax system so it is supposed to be insulated from political involvement. it would be inappropriate as white house chief of staff and secretary of treasury to try to put any little pressure on our tax system. i never did, i never would. that is why i did not pay an awful lot of attention over questions about the taxes because it is not something i would have intervened in. there is intentionally a separation so the the tax system will not be biased. i think what the president has made clear and i made clear is this behavior is unacceptable, we have to find out the facts, we have to take action and we have to make sure it never happens again. but, please, let's not get into a world where we start having the white house jumped into the administration of our tax system, because that wou

the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch. >> mr. secretary, first of all, thank you for your willingness to -- why not i yield you 30 seconds and you can finish? >> i think the fundamental issue here is, there is a separation in the administration of our tax system so it is supposed to be insulated from political involvement. it would be inappropriate as white house chief of staff and secretary of treasury to try to put any little pressure on our tax system. i never did, i never would. that is why i did not pay an awful lot of attention over questions about the taxes because it is not something i would have intervened in. there is intentionally a separation so the tax system will not be biased. i think what the president has made clear and i made clear is this behavior is unacceptable, we have to find out the facts, we have to take action and we have to make sure it never happens again. but, please, let's not get into a world where we start having the white house jump into the administration of our tax system, because that would be

i understand mr. lynch will -- on behalf of the ranking member, mr. lynch is recognized. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. i want to thank you and the ranking member for holding this hearing and i'd also like to thank the witnesses for coming forward and helping the committee with its work. mr. chairman, each year the state department releases its country report on human rights. and practices, it's a comprehensive assessment of human rights conditions across the world. notably the overview of the report released this year provides sustainable democracy means more than just elections and includes a call from president obama's remarks at the united nations in september of 2012. defining true democracy. as dependent on the freedom of citizens to speak their minds and assemble without fear on the rule of law and due process that guarantees the rights of all people, the country report goes on to conclude these elements of democracy, particularly the freedom of expression, and the freedom of speech face serious threats around the globe in 2012. i wanted

i understand mr. lynch on behalf of the ranking member mr. nch is recognized. >> i want to thank you and the ranking member and i would like to thank the witnesses for coming forward. >> each year the state department -- martha: we heard the opening comments this morning from jim jordan and elijah cummings. we may not hear anything from lois lerner who is expected to take the fifth. tucker, elijah cummings made some strong points here. this goes down to a non-partisan issue, whether the american people who work hard to pay the irs on time every year and who have been under their own scrutiny over the course of history deserve better than this. >> nobody like the irs, so there is not a huge constituency pushing democrats. at its core this is a partisan issue. the allegation is these groups were targeted for partisan reasons. at the outset i don't think you will see any democrat come out and flatly defend the irs. mr. cummings said we are not going to have the chance to ask her questions because she is invoking her amendment right. >> this is fu

wouldn't be appropriate, and so i certainly believe i did not have any conversation. >> recognize mr. lynch i think is, excuse me, mr. connolly is up next the questions. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. shulman, you were appointed by president bush when? >> i was nominated in 2007, confirmed in 2008. spent and you served until -- >> november 2012. >> scissor both in the last of the bush administration and through the first term of the obama administration, is that correct? >> correct. >> there might be any reason she would be at the white house. what would be some of the reasons you might be at the white house? >> the easter egg roll with my kids -- >> well -- >> questions about the administer building of tax policies they were thinking of, our budget, something the department of education streamline application processes for financial aid. >> i just want to be clear, you're very aware of the fact that you under oath to a? >> very aware of that spent and are testimony to be very clear, in response to mr. george's question, is that you've never have any conversation with respect to the subjec

mr. lynch also mentioned special prosecutor today. this might be one of those instances. his may be a case where you want to look at a special prosecutor. >> greta: mr. shulman, former commissioner, said that he was at the irs -- at the white house 118 times, mentioned even the easter egg roll. were you satisfied with his answers that he was, you know, giving you the best of his recollection, playing it straight, or do you think he was dodging? >> choice "d,"?lfóÑ dodging. i can't tell you a single straight answer he gave. some of the questions weren't complicated. what did you do when you learned that targeting was going on? which may be is criminal. what did you do. i listened to him for 4 1/2 hours and he didn't give a straight answer once he identified who he was and what his title was. 118 times at the white house is more than some of the employees at the white house were there. that's a lot. >> greta: do you know he was talking to? he said the easter bunny. >> he said the office of budget management. we don't know. to be honest with you, after listening to him for 4

in front of the ways and means committee, asking you the question, and you had an exchange with mr. lynch. the question was and you -- can you assure us and you told him that you could assure him that nothing was going on and you had next change with mr. lynch. do you recall that reef conversation question mark >> yes. i do not recall the exact words. >> this is what you said. the phrase that you used in response is you can give assurances that there was no targeting. that is what you said in testimony. you said in response and you said let me answer the question. you then said and respond -- and responded, you said that the for noces and -- targeting came in conversations. who were the conversations with? >> i had -- my understanding at -- time in march of 2012 >> was there no targeting and you said in conversations, that .s what i believe i am asking you, who are those conversations with? >> when the letters came in -- >> i am talking about the testimony. >> in my mind was the letters i had received about extensive questioning. those conversations were most likely -- my memory is not cl

. >> this is a modern-day lynching. >> mr. wilkins, now! >> it's a modern-day lynching. >> mr.at it is. >> you are not to speak, sir. >> he doesn't have any formal legal experience, and the stakes are high. >> i told you before, i can't tell you how to practice your craft. but, sir, you can't include evidence in questions. you must ask people questions. >> june 26th is the last day of testimony, and officer shawn humphrey is the last witness to take the stand. his testimony is pivotal. it could discredit wilkins' alibi. >> i was there to testify with regards to a female who claims she was with the defendant the day his crime occurred. however, she had reported in to the office to see me that day in dayton. >> mr. humphries, being that sharida didn't notify you that -- >> wilkins begins to cross-examine humphrey, but then all of a sudden he seems to be having a heart attack. >> excuse me. hold on a second. >> he had asked me, i believe, two questions at the time, and then he grabbed his chest, asked the judge if he could have a minute. >> your honor, excuse me for a second. i ne

we now recognize the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch >> megyn: we're going to even it out. same number of democrats and republicans as we watch this coverage. in the meantime, i want to get to adam housley. he had a critical interview with a special ops guy and knew what went down on the night in question and has been following the testimony as it relates to these whistleblowers. >> getting in front someone in front of the camera to talk about benghazi is next to impossible. everything he has told has lined up what has been told. we gave some of highlights of what should have been the response that night. take a listen. [ gun shots ] >> according to special operator that watched the events unfold, multiple special forces member were available nearby in tripoli on the night of the benghazi attacks and were told to stand down. a team of marines and elite special forces team training in croatia could have made it to libya while stevens was still missing and before special operations members were killed on a rooftop of the c.i.a. annex. >>

the chair recognizes the gentleman from massachusetts, mr. lynch. >> mr. secretary, first of all, thank you for your willingness to -- why not i yield you 30 seconds and you can finish? >> i think the fundamental issue here is, there is a separation in the administration of our tax system so it is supposed to be insulated from political involvement. it would be inappropriate as white house chief of staff and secretary of treasury to try to put any little pressure on our tax system. i never did, i never would. that is why i did not pay an awful lot of attention over questions about the taxes because it is not something i would have intervened in. there is intentionally a separation so the tax system will not be biased. i think what the president has made clear and i made clear is this behavior is unacceptable, we have to find out the facts, we have to take action and we have to make sure it never happens again. but, please, let's not get into a world where we start having the white house jump into the administration of our tax system, because that would be

i would like to thank my friend, mr. lynch, for bringing me 30 seconds to explain their position. >> i think this committee is better than the battering that i have seen you undertake. >> okay, let's just talk, since we talked so much before. i think we need to read what the feds. it says an organization described in section crd shall be exempt from taxation under this subtitle. this is 501. the section is denied and we come down and pacific leagues were organizations not organized for profit, but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare. local associations and employees, never ship that is limited in the designated person or persons in a particular municipality. the earnings of which are devoted exclusively to charitable education and recreational purposes. so the irs has an obligation. to look at exemptions that people request. most people are paying their taxes. most americans or other paying their taxes. there are certain people that seek exemptions under the 501 c-4. they are scrutinized, they have to be s

>> well, there is no honor among thieves and the federal prosecutor loretta lynch said mr. big and his hackers stay inside the bank system once they take it over and manipulate it and they watch each one of these withdrawals and track it down to the penny. so at the end they know that the casher, the guys pulling the money out on the street, they get 20%. but they also know exactly how much they are owed. interestingly in this case, the head of the new york cell was found murdered in the dominican republic, $100,000 in cash found near his body. so part of the investigation is did that have anything to do with the split. >> pelley: john, thanks very much. there is no greater threat to this country than heart disease. it is the leading cause of death, killing 600,000 americans a year. so when dr. jon lapook told us today that doctors may have discovered a fountain of youth for hearts, we wanted to know more. doctors rich lee and amy waiters may have discovered a new way of treating old sick hearts. make them young again. >> the heart is a very key organ that experiences a dec

you are the lynch pin. you are mr. personality and you don't think you are going to the game?ghter ] >> our friend willy brown is ashamed of matthews. >>> explain this. right at the time, ed, love you in your suit, but right at the time they are making the superbowl announcement, they say steph curry gets the key to the city. the great ed lee should have spread it out a little bit. >> a little bit. we are all upset. from all of us at kron 4, what happened ed? the heisman trophy winner, played for the raiders in 1998, eight seasons in oakland. went onto the green bay packers where one year, he became the nfl defensive player of the year. he is at the end of his career, he is 36, but doesn't want to stay home yet, so the raiders say come play with us, your 16th season, so strasburg big deal with the raiders is get young people, get all young people. and then have one veteran in there. i equate it to kron. i'm able to mold some of the talent here. keep one guy in there just to look at 'em. living on cloud nine with that u-verse wireless receiver. you see in my day, when my mom wa

mr. lynch is recognized. >> i want to thank you and the rack -- and the ranking member and thank the witnesses for coming or word. each year, the state department releases its report on human rights and practices. it's a comprehensive assessment of human rights conditions across the world. notably a report released this year provides that sustainable democracy means more than just elections and includes a quote from president obama's or marks from december 2012 defining true democracy as dependent on the freedom of citizens to speak their mind and assemble without beer on the rule of law and due process that aaron teased rights of all people. the report goes on to conclude these elements of democracy, particularly the freedom of expression and freedom of speech face serious threats around the globe in 2012. i want to point to a couple of these examples -- while the people's republic of china provides for freedom of speech and freedom of the press, a report states authorities generally do not re

mr. lynch is recognized. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. thank you and the ranking member for holding this hearing. i would also like to thank the witnesses coming forward. each year the state department releases its report on human rights and practices. it's a comprehensive assessment of human rights conditions across the world. releasedhe overview this year provides sustainable democracy means more than just elections and includes a remark from president obama of the united nations defining democracy. "people can assemble without fear and due process that guarantees the rights of all people." it concluedes these elements of democracy face serious threats around the world in 2012. walpole law and the people's republic of china provides -- the people's in republic of china provides freedom of press, authorities do not generally respected these rights in practice. those who make politically sensitive comments in public speeches and comments to the media remain subject to punitive measures. the government secretly monitors gathering of intell

boards, including merrill lynch and company and habeas corpus and sends a senior adviser of the carlyle group. please welcome the author of the book "many unhappy returns", mr. charles rossotti. >> thank you. thank you very much for that kind introduction. it is good to be back. the gentleman was kind enough to welcome me when things were not looking so good at the irs in 1999. so i do appreciate it. as you mentioned, i completed my time in november of 2002. but i still have trouble imagining that i actually ended up taking a job. because i was not planning to leave. and i certainly have not signaled the government agency. and let alone their i was in november of 1990s davin as acting commissioner. it was not normal time for the iron ask him if there ever is a normal time for the irs. people who are really angry at that point, shortly after, there was a columnist who wrote about things. he found me a great subject for his column. right after i got there, he wrote this column in which he reported in a rather deadpan fashion that my body had been found under four times that were labeled your irs taxpayer rights and that was about what it was for at that point

mr. speaker. it goes on to say whereas, it has a whole series of whereases, whereas women in the united states are the lynch pin of families. i agree. women are the lynch pin ofs of families and it would be better if we had more men who were playing a more significant role. i don't think that's the position of the authors of this resolution. but it goes on to say, whereas climate change contributes to the work load and stress on women farmers and suggests that women produce 80% of the food in the developing countries. maybe, that would be a surprise to me. whereas women will be disproportionately facing harmful impacts for climate change. different than men, for example? whereas epidemics such asthma laria are expected to worsen -- as malaria are expected to worsen and spread, putting women at risk. malaria discriminates on the basis of gender, mr. speaker? that also is news to me. and as i rdo through this resolution, the resolution on the disparate impact of climate change on women, this is the one that caught my attention above all others, mr. speaker. and i'll quote from the resolution, whereas food ins