Politics

Bill O’Reilly: Shulman’s 157 White House visits ‘a smoking gun’ in IRS scandal

Jeff Poor Media Reporter
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For his “Talking Points Memo” segment during his Thursday show, Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly called Internal Revenue Service commissioner Douglas Shulman’s 157 known trips to the White House, which were first reported by The Daily Caller, might be the “smoking gun” in the IRS auditing scandal.

“Is there now a smoking gun in the IRS scandal?” O’Reilly said. “That is the subject of this evening’s ‘Talking Points Memo.’ We do expect criminal charges to be leveled against some people working in the IRS because they abused their power by targeting conservative groups and individuals. But the major question remains unanswered: Did the campaign of intimidation come from the White House? Well, today, there is disturbing information. This man, former IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman, visited the White House — ready — 157 times. Incredible. By comparison then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to the White House 43 times. Then-CIA Director Leon Panetta: 20 times. So what the heck was Mr. Shulman doing the White House with that kind of frequency? In his testimony before Congress, Schulman was a wise guy.”

O’Reilly said Obama should explain why Shulman was visiting the White House.

“You must explain under oath what you were doing at the White House on 157 separate occasions,” O’Reilly said. “While many Americans don’t seem to understand the seriousness of the IRS situation, those who love the country do. You cannot have an agency that has the power to put Americans in prison, to take their money, to literally ruin their lives persecuting people for political reasons. That’s what they do in China. That’s what they do in Cuba. We do not do that here.”

“The president of the United States should explain tomorrow what Mr. Shulman was doing at the White House all those times,” he continued. “And any federal employee involved in helping that man Shulman target Americans should be immediately fired and prosecuted. ‘Talking Points’ also calls upon the Democratic Party to stop the nonsense. This is serious business. There is no way on earth that Shulman should not have to explain in detail what he did as head of the IRS. So again, we call upon President Obama to clarify the situation. Make Shulman testify as soon as possible.”

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