REPORTER: Since the IRS happened on President Obama's watch, how much of a hit -- or do you think at all Democrats will take a hit on the IRS in the 2014 midterms?
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY LEADER: Well, you said it happened under his watch. It happened under the appointment of the head of the IRS, who was appointed by President Bush. His length of stay extended into President Obama's stay. I think that that points to the fact -- why is this a politicized issue? We all are concerned about how the IRS does what it's supposed to do but does not do it in a selective way.
I said before what they did was wrong. The Inspector General has said over and over it is not illegal. The committee wants to challenge the Inspector General on his findings, so that will unfold. But again the IRS is an independent agency. So the inference to be drawn happened on his watch is that it happened on his watch the way some other cabinet agency of government would. No, this is an independent agency is headed up by a Bush appointee. What they did was wrong. We have to make sure it doesn't happen again. Selective review. We don't like it on our side or their side. It has no place.
REPORTER: Doesn't the buck stop with him? Should he have known about these things but he said he didn't know about any of this?
PELOSI: The president doesn't know about everything that is going in every agency in government. Should Mr. Boehner have known because this is the neighborhood in Cincinnati where the IRS office is. I don't think you can hold him accountable for what happened in that IRS office. I think that obviously the public will make its decision about it but that's it. It's a Bush appointee, under his leadership this happened. It was wrong. Let's make sure it doesn't happen again.
