U.S. Government Admits Killing 4 Americans in Drone Strikes

4 killed since 2009

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that four American citizens have been killed in drone strikes since 2009 in Pakistan and Yemen. The disclosure to Congress comes on the eve of a major national security speech by President Barack Obama.

In conducting U.S. counterterrorism operations against al-Qaida and its associated forces, the government has targeted and killed one American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, and is aware of the killing by U.S. drones of three others, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy.

Al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric, was killed in a drone strike in September 2011 in Yemen. Holder said three other Americans were killed by drones in counterterrorism operations since 2009 but were not targeted. The three are Samir Khan, who was killed in the same drone strike as al-Awlaki; al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, a native of Denver, who also was killed in Yemen two weeks later; and Jude Kenan Mohammed, who was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan.

"Since entering office, the president has made clear his commitment to providing Congress and the American people with as much information as possible about our sensitive counterterrorism operations," Holder told Leahy, D-Vt. "To this end, the president has directed me to disclose certain information that until now has been properly classified."

"The administration is determined to continue these

Ted Cruz on the Senate Floor: 'I Don't Trust the Republicans' on the Debt Ceiling

Cruz takes a jab at the 'senior senator from Arizona' (John McCain)

'One of the reason's we got into this mess is because a lot of Republicans were complicit in this spending spree'...'Stop bankrupting our country'

Former IRS Commissioner Shulman Visited White House 118 Times During Tea Party Targeting

townhall Kate Pavlich

According to Republican Rep. Jim Jordan and White House visitor logs, former IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman visited the White House 118 times in 2010 and 2011. This is the same time period when Tea Party groups were inappropriately targeted and intimidated by the IRS.

Testifying in front of lawmakers on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Shulman admitted that many of the meetings with the White House were to discuss how to implement ObamaCare.

"The IRS has a major roll in the money flow," Shulman said.

Shulman denied ever discussing 501c(4) groups with White House officials and failed to name who he met with during his visits. At the time Shulman met with the White House throughout 2010 and 2011, Tea Party and Patriot groups were expressing opposition to ObamaCare.

Inspector General Russell George said during testimony that he did not speak with anybody in the White House about targeting of Tea Party groups during his audit and did not ask IRS officials if they communicated with the White House about the targeting.

"We did not question anybody about whether they talked to the White House," George said.

Nope, he never said one word to me about it

Rush: "What the Hell Just Happened Here? Issa Should Have Kept Her There All Afternoon And Ask Her 100 Questions and Make Her Invoke the 5th on Everyone of Them!"

'We just let a witness go'

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Incredible: Pregnant Teacher Used Body to Shield Kids from Tornado [Video]

Plaza Towers Elementary School 3rd-grade teacher Jennifer Doan spoke to CBS News Vinita Nair about how she tried to protect her students from the tornado that ravaged Moore, Oklahoma

7 of her students (out of a class of 20) died when the tornado tore through the school. She used her body to cover some of the students. She kept telling the students that rescuers would come to help. Moving story and video. Watch.



This is the AP photo the day of the storm

Flashback Obama: No More Spying on Americans When I Become President [Video]

'The law is not subject to the whims of stubborn rulers and justice is not arbitrary'

Congressman Trey Gowdy Slams Lois Lerner At Hearing- She made an opening statement & Can't Claim 5th Amendment Protection

Lois Lerner moments ago took the Fifth - declining to testify at the House Oversight hearing into the targeting of Conservatives by the IRS. However she made an opening statement saying she had not done anything wrong and that she would like to answer questions. Her counsel advised her to not testify. Trey Gowdy forcefully pointed out that the very action of making an opening statement makes her ineligible for 5ht Amendment protection

Gowdy receives applause



cbsnews

Before invoking her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, Lois Lerner, the head of the tax-exempt organizations division of the IRS, proclaimed her innocence before a congressional committee Wednesday.

"I have not done anything wrong," Lerner told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations, and I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee."

Lerner told the committee she wanted to answer their questions about the misconduct at the IRS, but she has decided, "after very careful consideration" of her lawyer's advice, to invoke the Fifth Amendment.

"I'm asserting my right not to testify," she said. "I know some people will assume I've done something wrong. I have not. One of the basic functions of the Fifth Amendment is to protect innocent individuals."

Krauthammer: Justice Dept.Targeting Fox News James Rosen a "Brazen Assault on the First Amendment" [Video]

'We do not go after journalists who are soliciting information"..."From the beginning of this administration, the White House, starting with the president has tried to delegitimize Fox"- Krauthammer