The IRS Scandal, Day 828

MSNBC, The Rachel Maddow Show/The MaddowBlog:

Fox News’ Martha MacCallum posed a question to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), which he seemed eager to answer. From the transcript:

MACCALLUM: On the same topic, let’s go to Governor Jindal. Carly Fiorina, also on the stage, said that she would go so far as to shut down the government over the issue of defunding Planned Parenthood. Would you do that? Would you be willing to shut down the government when it comes to defunding this group?

JINDAL: Well, a couple of things. Planned Parenthood had better hope that Hillary Clinton wins this election, because I guarantee under President Jindal, January 2017, the Department of Justice and the IRS and everybody else that we can send from the federal government will be going in to Planned Parenthood.

This generated no real follow-up, which is a shame because it was an amazing answer. According to Jindal, his administration would dispatch the Internal Revenue Service to target Planned Parenthood because, well, Bobby Jindal doesn’t like Planned Parenthood.

But there’s a small problem with idea: it’s brazenly illegal.

Remember, Richard Nixon, among other things, tried to use the IRS as a political weapon to target his political foes – and had he not resigned in disgrace, Nixon would have been impeached for having done so. More recently, Republicans and much of the Beltway media accused President Obama of using the IRS to punish far-right Tea Party groups. The allegations proved baseless, but for a short while, Republicans saw this as a devastating scandal involving an abusive, out-of-control White House using the IRS as a political weapon.

And yet, there was Jindal – according to some, one of the smarter GOP officials on the national scene – offering a striking example of a presidential candidate vowing to commit impeachable offenses before the election even happens.

Mother Jones, Bobby Jindal Thinks the IRS Shouldn't Be Used to Target Political Enemies, Except For His

• The IRS Scandal, Day 827 (Aug. 14, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 826 (Aug. 13, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 825 (Aug. 12, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 824 (Aug. 11, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 823 (Aug. 10, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 822 (Aug. 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 821 (Aug. 8, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 820 (Aug. 7, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 819 (Aug. 6, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 818 (Aug. 5, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 817 (Aug. 4, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 816 (Aug. 3, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 815 (Aug. 2, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 814 (Aug. 1, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 813 (July 31, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 812 (July 30, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 811 (July 29, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 810 (July 28, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 809 (July 27, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 808 (July 26, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 807 (July 25, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 806 (July 24, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 805 (July 23, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 804 (July 22, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 803 (July 21, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 802 (July 20, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Day 801 (July 19, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 701-800 (April 10, 2015 - July 18, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 601-700 (Dec. 31, 2014 - April 9, 2015)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 501-600 (Sept. 22, 2014-Dec. 30, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 401-500 (June 14, 2014 - Sept. 21,2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 301-400 (Mar. 6, 2014 - June 13, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 201-300 (Nov. 26, 2013 - Mar. 5, 2014)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 101-200 (Aug. 18, 2013 - Nov. 25, 2013)
• The IRS Scandal, Days 1-100 (May 10, 2013 - Aug. 17, 2013)