A young Michelle Obama once dated the inspector general who recently uncovered the IRS scandal, according to a bombshell report.

The future First Lady, then known as Michelle Robinson, reportedly dated J. Russell George, the current IRS top watchdog responsible for investigating the widening trouble at the tax agency, while the two were at Harvard Law School in the 1980s, the National Journal reported.

First lady Michelle Obama and George were both in the Black Law Students Association at Harvard Law School.

The power pair were both members of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) and graduated together in 1988, and at the very least, shared a few slices of pizza together.

“I think (George) actually dated Michelle at one point,” former Rep. Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican who worked with George on a House oversight subcommittee years ago, told the National Journal.

George, for his part, said he crossed paths with young beauty, but that calling it dating may be, “overstating it.”

Michelle met her future husband, President Obama, a short time later. They married in 1992.

“Michelle was a lovely person and down to earth,” George said. “The BLSA went out for pizza. … We would go out together.”

George, after a series of high-profile stints with former Republican Sen. Bob Dole and President George H.W. Bush, eventually became the inspector general to the Treasury Department, a role that makes him a watchdog over the IRS.

And it was George’s audit of the IRS that revealed that a number of offices at the tax agency had singled out conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status.

Michelle, of course, met her future husband, President Obama, a few years later when they were working at the same law firm in Chicago. They married in 1992.


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President Barack Obama's solemn remarks on drones and counterterrorism were interrupted at length Thursday by a protester who loudly advocated for the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison – the same position Obama was stressing in his speech.

The woman shouting was identified as peace activist Medea Benjamin of the group Code Pink, whose members have been loudly interrupting congressional hearings and official speeches for years.

"You are commander-in-chief – you can close Guantanamo today," Benjamin shouted during a portion of Obama's speech in which the president outlined changes in policy that included an all-out push to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba. She later yelled, "It's been 11 years!"

Benjamin herself is a frequent presence at events in Washington and elsewhere. It was unclear how she entered the speech, held at the National Defense University. Other members of the audience included students at the school, experts in human rights and national security, and government officials who have helped develop counterterrorism policies.

"This is part of free speech, is you being able to speak but also you listening and me being able to speak, alright?" Obama said upon the first interruption.

Benjamin kept up her protest, which also included a rebuke against American drone strikes which have killed civilians. Obama eventually diverted from his prepared remarks to address the situation head-on.

"The voice of that woman is worth paying attention to," he said. "Obviously I do not agree with much of what she said and obviously she wasn't listening to me in much of what I said. But these are tough issues and the suggestion that we can gloss over them is wrong."

On their official Twitter page, the group hailed Benjamin's protest

And in the conclusion of his remarks, Obama added another nod to Benjamin's protest as he listed ways a victory in the war on terror would be assessed.

"Victory will be measured in parents taking their kids to school, immigrants coming to our shores, fans taking in a ballgame, a veteran starting a business, a bustling city street, a citizen shouting at your concerns at a president," he said.

"The quiet determination, that strength of character and bond of fellowship, that refutation of fear, that is both our sword and our shield."

Lindsay Boehner, the anti-pot House Speaker's eldest daughter was married to Jamaica-born construction worker Dominic Lakhan. The groom was once arrested by sheriff's deputies for possession of marijuana.

The daughter of House Speaker John Boehner tied the knot over the weekend with her Jamaican-born love, who was once busted for marijuana possession.

The daughter of Republican House Speaker John Boehner got married on Friday in Delray Beach, Fla.

Lindsay Boehner, 35, and 38-year-old Dominic Lakhan wed Friday evening in Delray Beach, Fla.

Lakhan was reportedly arrested in 2006 when Florida cops found 4 grams of pot in his ashtray after a routine traffic stop.

Lakhan, wearing a dapper gray suit and sporting dreadlocks extending to his waist, exchanged vows with Boehner at a small bed-and-breakfast as the bride’s straight-laced Republican father and another 80 guests looked on.

Lakhan’s new father-in-law is an observant Catholic, a strict conservative and an opponent of marijuana legalization.

The conservative Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in Virginia once compared Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan and has made several other inflammatory statements that are likely to play into the state’s competitive race for governor.

E.W. Jackson, a black pastor and attorney with a reputation for being outspoken and bombastic, also once blasted fellow African-Americans for their “slavish devotion” to the Democratic party in a self-produced “message to black Christians” he posted to YouTube last year.

In the video, Jackson says Planned Parenthood, the national reproductive health non-profit group, “has killed unborn babies by the tens of millions.”

“The Democrat Party has created an unholy alliance between certain so-called civil rights leaders and Planned Parenthood, which has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was,” Jackson said in the video. “And the Democratic Party and their black civil rights allies are partners in this genocide.”

Jackson, who this past weekend won the state’s GOP nomination for lieutenant governor, goes on to accuse the Democratic Party of “saturating the black community with ridiculous lies.”

“The black community will never prosper by betraying God and following leadership that curries the favor of the democrat party. It is time for Christians to have the faith and courage to refuse to associate with a political party that has become anti-Christian, anti-church, anti-bible, anti-life, anti-family and anti-God."

Jackson will go up against a yet-to-be-named Democrat in November. Democrats will choose their nominee in a June 11 primary.

But Jackson’s emergence as a firebrand candidate could be bad news for Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican nominee for governor, especially if Democrats begin to tie the two together in advertisements.

Virginia’s race for governor is expected to be close. Cuccinelli, the state attorney general, and Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe, the former DNC chairman, have been running neck-and-neck in most major polls, ahead of the November election.

State Rep. Tyrone Brooks Sr., D-Atlanta, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury for allegedly misappropriating almost $1 million in charitable funds, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

The grand jury had been investigating the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials’ finances. Brooks has served as the organization’s president. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in February that several officials with the organization had been subpoenaed and been interviewed by the FBI.

When asked Thursday if he had broken the law, Brooks said, “Not to my knowledge. I don’t want to discuss it right now. I want to do it on the Moore’s Ford Bridge because that’s what this is all about.”

Brooks was referring to the 1946 lynching of two black couples at Moore’s Ford Bridge in Monroe. He and GABEO have supported re-enactments held at the bridge since 2004.

In February, Brooks said he believed the federal investigation was being stirred up by those angry of the attention he and GABEO were giving the unsolved murders.

U.S. Attorney Sally Yates told reporters Thursday that Brooks used contributions from Coca-Cola, Georgia Power, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and others to pay for home repairs, dry cleaning, entertainment, life insurance and other personal uses.

“This is a very disappointing day,” Yates said. She said Brooks “has been a powerful voice for change in our state, change that needed to happen.”

But Brooks’ good works, she added, “did not give him a license to steal.”

Yates said Brooks will be summoned to appear before a judge at an undetermined time.

“Mr. Brooks exploited two charitable organizations for his own personal financial gain which came at the expense of the intended beneficiaries of the charitable donations,” Veronica Hyman-Pillot, special agent in charge of IRS criminal investigation, said in a statement. “IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to investigating individuals who use charitable organizations for their personal gain.”

Brooks, 67, was charged in a 30-count indictment that includes charges of mail, wire and tax fraud. The indictment charges that, from the mid-1990s through 2012, Brooks solicited contributions from individuals and corporate donors to combat illiteracy and fund other charitable causes, but then used the money to pay personal expenses for himself and his family.

Brooks has said GABEO, founded in 1970, has more than 1,000 members.

Brooks has accused the FBI of investigating him because of his involvement in the Moore’s Ford Bridge re-enactments. The event is held each year in memory of the 1946 lynching of two black couples in Monroe.

Brooks and GABEO have supported the re-enactments, held since 2004, and both continue to lead efforts to bring the killers to justice. No one was ever charged in the killings.

Brooks said earlier this year he believes any federal investigation is being stirred up by those angry of the attention he and GABEO are giving the unsolved murders.

President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he was "angry" at IRS officials who inappropriately targeted conservative groups for scrutiny, announcing that his administration had sought and accepted Steven Miller's resignation as interim commissioner of the IRS.

"I've reviewed the Treasury Department watchdog's report, and the misconduct that it uncovered was inexcusable," Obama said in a statement at the White House. "It's inexcusable, and Americans are right to be angry about it, and I'm angry about it."

The president said that he expected the IRS to act with even higher levels of integrity than other government agencies and that, to that end, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had sought and accepted Miller's resignation — something many Republicans had demanded.

Obama also pledged to work with Congress in its emerging investigation into the controversy, pledging his administration would work "hand in hand with Congress" to further its oversight. But the president also cautioned lawmakers to conduct their probe "in a way that doesn't smack of politics or partisan agendas."

"If the President is as concerned about this issue as he claims, he'll work openly and transparently with Congress to get to the bottom of the scandal — no stonewalling, no half-answers, no withholding of witnesses," the top Republican senator, Kentucky's Mitch McConnell, said in a statement.

The president said as well that he thought the problems at the IRS were "fixable," and he directed Lew to implement the IRS inspector general's recommendations.

Lew said in a statement that it was "clear that the IRS needs new leadership to restore public trust and confidence."

"As the president noted, this type of misconduct at any agency, but especially the IRS, is inexcusable and unacceptable. And I will not tolerate it," he said.In an internal email to employees, Miller said he would be staying on until early June to help with an orderly transition.

Obama's remarks came amid news that two IRS employees who had engaged in activities targeting conservative groups had faced disciplinary action for their conduct.

The inspector general's release Monday found that incompetence and ineffective management at the tax-collecting agency led to employees' applying extra scrutiny to conservative and Tea Party advocacy groups. The report also found there was no evidence of outside pressure on officials to target conservative groups.

President Barack Obama makes a statement on the IRS' targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 15.

Still, the revelation has prompted an uproar among Republicans, who have openly suggested that the Obama administration might have used the IRS to target its political opponents.

"My question isn't about who's going to resign," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said at a weekly press conference on Capitol Hill. "My question is who's going to jail in this scandal."

Democrats have largely joined their Republican colleagues in expressing outrage toward the IRS employees' actions, and Obama himself condemned the agency Monday, calling the targeting of conservative groups "outrageous" and vowing to hold those responsible accountable.

"I'll do everything in my power to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again, by holding the responsible parties accountable, by putting in place new checks and new safeguards, and, going forward, my making sure the law is applied as it should be — in a fair and impartial way," Obama said.

Lax oversight at the Internal Revenue Service allowed for the singling out of some conservative groups, resulting in lengthy delays in the processing of their applications for federal tax-exempt status, according to a report by the agency's inspector general released Tuesday.

The report found that for more than 18 months beginning in early 2010 the IRS developed and followed a faulty policy to determine whether the applicants were engaged in political activities, which would disqualify the groups from receiving tax-exempt status.

"The IRS used inappropriate criteria that identified for review Tea Party and other organizations applying for tax-exempt status based upon their names or policy positions instead of indications of potential political campaign intervention," according to the report.

President Barack Obama called the report findings "intolerable and inexcusable."

"The federal government must conduct itself in a way that's worthy of the public's trust, and that's especially true for the IRS. The IRS must apply the law in a fair and impartial way, and its employees must act with utmost integrity. This report shows that some of its employees failed that test," the president said in a statement released late Tuesday.
Obama said he has directed U.S. Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew "to hold those responsible for these failures accountable."

IRS officials, according to the report, did not consult anyone beyond the agency about the development of the additional screening criteria. They believed that the criteria they came up with was a screening shortcut meant to help with the influx of applications, the report said.

The agency's top watchdog found that the criteria used to flag potential political applications resulted in substantial delays and the request of unnecessary information from the groups.

Among the criteria used by IRS officials to flag applications was a "Be On the Look Out" list, or a BOLO, which was discontinued in 2012, according to the report. The criteria on the BOLO included:

-- Whether "Tea Party," "Patriots" or "9/12 Project" was referenced in the case file.

-- Whether the issues outlined in the application included government spending, government debt or taxes.

-- Whether there was advocating or lobbying to "make America a better place to live."

-- Whether a statement in the case file criticized how the country is being run.

-- Whether it advocated education about the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

The investigation by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration was initiated after congressional complaints began to surface in the media in 2012 that the IRS was targeting conservative groups and holding up applications.

"Whether the inappropriate criterion was shorthand for all potential political cases or not, developing and using criteria that focuses on organization names and policy positions instead of the activities permitted under the Treasury regulations does not promote public confidence that tax-exempt laws are being adhered to impartially," the report said.

The IRS welcomed the Treasury inspector general's report, saying that it agreed that aspects of its original approach in handling the influx of tax-exempt applications was inappropriate.

"The IRS is required by law to determine if organizations are engaging in a legally permissible level of political activity. Centralizing these cases was necessary to achieve consistent treatment," it said in a statement.

The developments came hours after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Justice Department had launched a criminal investigation into whether the IRS politically targeted some conservative groups.

"The FBI is coordinating with the Justice Department to see if any laws were broken in connection with those matters related to the IRS," Holder said at a briefing.

In a written response included in the report, the IRS commissioner of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division said there was no criminal behavior behind the actions of the agents, but rather inefficient management.

"We believe the front-line career employees that made the decisions acted out of a desire for efficiency and not out of any political and partisan viewpoint," the commissioner wrote.

The report found that all of the applications that were sent to the Determinations Unit "experienced substantial delays in processing."

"Although the processing of some applications with potential significant political campaign intervention was started soon after receipt, no work was completed on the majority of these applications for 13 months," it said.

The report's findings indicate that of the 298 cases reviewed by the IRS inspector general as potential political cases not eligible for tax exempt status: 72 contained the name "tea party," 11 contained "9/12" and 13 contained the word "patriots," according to the report. There were 202 cases that did not contain any such reference.

Of those applications still open for review, 160 cases were open from 206 days to more than three years -- through two election cycles.

Among the recommendations made by the Treasury inspector general: The IRS better document reasons why applications are chosen for review, develop a process to track requests for assistance, develop and provide training to employees before each election cycle and immediately resolve outstanding cases.

The report also called on the Department of Treasury to develop guidelines to explain social welfare activity -- the primary factor in obtaining tax-exempt status.

"Although the IRS has taken some action, it will need to do more so that the public has reasonable assurance that applications are processed without unreasonable delay in a fair and impartial manner in the future," the report said.

Lois Lerner, director of tax-exempt organizations for the IRS, acknowledged Friday that the IRS had targeted some groups for further review because they had those words in their names.

She said the activity took place at the IRS office in Cincinnati, which handles applications for 501(c)(4) status.

But documents suggest at least three other IRS offices did the same.

Letters provided show IRS officials in Washington and California contacted conservative groups to demand more information before approving the groups' requests for tax-exempt status.

The American Center for Law and Justice, a legal group representing numerous conservative organizations, provided CNN with four such letters: one each from IRS offices in Washington; Cincinnati; El Monte, California, and Laguna Niguel, California.

The IRS did not respond to requests for comment regarding the letters.

Another day, another bombshell in the expanding investigation of political corruption in New York.

A day after state Sen. John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) was charged with embezzlement, prosecutors Tuesday revealed that eight unnamed people are "the subjects of ongoing criminal investigations.”

The eight individuals all spoke to former state Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Queens) while she wore a wire last summer for federal prosecutors investigating corruption.

One of the eight is Sampson, sources said. A majority of the seven others are elected officials. The rest have ties to some of those officials.

A ninth person recorded by Huntley provided law enforcement with “useful information” but is not considered a subject of an ongoing investigation.

The names of the eight people are listed in a document prepared for Huntley’s sentencing this Thursday on charges related to her theft from a taxpayer-funded nonprofit organization she controlled.

Federal prosecutors argued Tuesday that releasing the document, and the names, would jeopardize ongoing investigations.

How the News covered the corruption charges of state Sen. John Sampson, one of several politicans going down after stealthy wiretaps by state Sen. Shirley Huntley from Queens.

But news organizations, including the Daily News, told Brooklyn Federal Judge Jack Weinstein that no investigations would be compromised because the eight individuals know they were recorded by Huntley.

Weinstein agreed, ordering that the memo be released at 2 p.m. on Wednesday unless the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office successfully appeals his decision.

“Every legislator who has conversed with this defendant will necessarily assume that he or she was recorded,” he wrote. “There will be no surprises to the potentially accused by the revelations of their names.”

The report of so many targets came as sources told The News that prosecutors have been talking with Sampson’s attorneys for weeks, seeking his cooperation in their corruption investigations.

As part of the discussions, prosecutors told Sampson’s team they would let him plead guilty to two charges — one count each of embezzlement and obstruction of justice — in return for dropping all other charges, the sources said.

As part of those talks, prosecutors secretly indicted Sampson April 29 but continued to discuss a plea. Last Friday, prosecutors tried to increase pressure on Sampson by releasing a document that appeared to implicate him in political corruption.

That document stated that an unnamed “Senator #1” — whom sources identified as Sampson — “suggested” to Huntley that she “use her official influence” to get a businessman a contract at Kennedy Airport.

Huntley ultimately took what prosecutors described as a bribe from the businessman, but when the indictment was unsealed against Sampson on Monday, there was no mention of this transaction.

If any American has the power of persuasion over North Korea's defiant young ruler, it might be eccentric ex-basketball star Dennis Rodman.

So when Rodman digitally called for Kim Jong Un to release U.S. citizen Kenneth Bae, he may have a shot at a response.

"I'm calling on the Supreme Leader of North Korea or as I call him "Kim", to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose," Rodman tweeted.

Dennis Rodman is North Korean leader's 'friend for life'

Bae was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor last month after he was convicted of unspecified "hostile acts" against North Korea. The country's state-run Korean Central News Agency said the Korean-American was arrested November 3 after arriving as a tourist in Rason City, a northeastern port near the Chinese border.

Bae's sister, Terri Chung, told CNN's Anderson Cooper last week that her brother is not a spy.

"He has never had any evil intentions against North Korea, or any other country for that matter," Chung said.

She said her brother owns a tour company and was in North Korea for work.

"He didn't have any problems going there last time, last year five times, so he didn't have any reason to suspect that there would be any trouble this time around," she said.

U.S. officials have struggled to establish how exactly Bae fell afoul of North Korean authorities. The North Korean statement on his conviction provided no details of the allegations against him.

"This was somebody who was a tour operator, who has been there in the past and has a visa to go to the North," a senior U.S. official told CNN on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue.

But NK News, a U.S.-based website that focuses on North Korea, suggests Bae has served as a missionary trying to convert North Koreans.

"I knew that Jesus wanted me to be a 'channel' to the North," Bae told a Korean congregation at a St. Louis church in 2011, NK News reported. "This year, I'm working at taking several short term missionary teams into North Korea."

Bae's sentencing came after weeks of intense rhetoric from North Korea, which conducted its third nuclear test in February and launched a satellite into orbit atop a long-range rocket in December.

Washington responded by deploying additional missile interceptors on the West Coast, dispatching a missile defense system to the Pacific territory of Guam and bolstering annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises with overflights by nuclear-capable B-2 and B-52 bombers.

Rodman, the heavily pierced NBA Hall of Famer, made headlines when he befriended North Korea's supreme leader during a visit in February.

"You have a friend for life," Rodman told Kim after the two men sat next to each other watching an unusual basketball exhibition in Pyongyang.

But Rodman said he is not an official diplomat between the United States and North Korea.

"I'm not a politician," he tweeted. "Kim Jung Un & North Korean people are basketball fans. I love everyone. Period. End of story."