The White House could have done a better job at providing an accurate timeline of when and to what extent it became aware of an investigation into improper Internal Revenue Service conduct that targeted conservative groups during the run-up to the 2012 election, press secretary Jay Carney conceded Wednesday.
“There’s been some legitimatize criticisms of how we’re handling this,” Carney told reporters at his daily briefing.
Faced with mounting criticism over its shifting timeline and incomplete answers about which senior administration officials were aware of an impending inspector general report in April, Carney admitted that information he previously provided required a “correction” on Monday.
“You’re good at your jobs and you’re smart,” Carney told reporters, “but we can’t anticipate every question.”
“Sometimes we don’t have the answers and sometimes we need to go back and get them,” he added.
Carney described the administration’s approach as disclosing information as it becomes available in a forthcoming manner, rather than keeping the press in the dark for weeks until all of the facts are determined.
“We take the path we’ve taken and accept it’s got some potholes in it and some diversions in it that are not always enjoyable.”
The details provided by the White House have advanced substantially in the last few weeks. After disclosing last week that only White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler was informed of the impending investigation, Carney said Monday that she had additionally informed Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, his deputy Mark Childress, and “other members of the senior staff.” After saying “there were communications with Treasury and the office of general counsel to understand the anticipated timing of the release of the report” on Monday, Carney on Tuesday added that Treasury officials discussed the public rollout with White House staff in more detail.
In response to a reporter’s question at Wednesday’s briefing, Carney would not identify the names of other senior staff who were also made aware of the report.
