“This was the targeting of the president’s political enemies, effectively, and lies about it during the election year so that it wasn’t discovered till afterwards.”
Senators Marco Rubio and Rand Paul joined the attack, clearly looking to court the Republican base as they seek to shape the early 2016 presidential race.
For now, at least, there seems no clear evidence of wrongdoing by the president or top aides from any of the scandals that have hit critical mass in the last week.
So far, there are no suggestions of criminal activity and Republican claims that things are worse than the 1970s Watergate scandal that felled president Richard Nixon seem far-fetched.
But the danger for Obama is that the political fallout from a scandal will complicate an already shaky start to his second term, which has seen his gun control drive fail and ambitious economic agenda stall.
Even on immigration reform – his top second term priority – which stands a good chance of making it into law, Obama’s best tactic is to remain publicly silent, to avoid alienating Republicans needed to pass the bill.
As the mood sours, the US media is already chock-full of stories suggesting Obama is facing the “second term curse” that afflicts many presidencies.
But while he is in rocky political water, Obama’s own political base has remained remarkably solid during a tough presidency.
There is however a danger that months of dragging scandal coverage could demoralize Democrats, and fire up Republicans in the run-up to the 2014 midterm elections.
Even if White House officials did nothing wrong – scandals can grind on for months, sapping political momentum, distracting key officials and forcing administration aides to sign up expensive lawyers.
A volley of congressional hearings, the drip-drip of damaging revelations and scandal-laced news coverage will likely continue to occupy the White House for months to come – further slowing Obama’s second-term plans.
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