President Barack Obama continued to try to distance himself from the recent IRS scandal on Thursday, claiming that he had no knowledge of an investigation of the agency's controversial practice of targeting conservative groups for increased scrutiny.
In a rainy Rose Garden press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Obama indicated that he did not know about the inspector general's audit until it was revealed in the media.
"I can assure you that I certainly did not know anything about the IG report before the IG report had been leaked through the press," Obama said.
"Typically, the IG reports are not supposed to be widely distributed or shared. They tend to be a process that everybody is trying to protect the integrity of," he added. "But what I'm absolutely certain of is that the actions that were described in that IG report are unacceptable."
The inspector general report confirmed that IRS personnel improperly targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
Following the report, Obama said his main concern is fixing the problem and noted that he began that process by accepting the resignation of acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller on Wednesday.
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