IRS manager says he ordered targeting
WASHINGTON A self-described conservative Republican who is a manager in the Internal Revenue Service office that targeted tea-party groups told investigators that he, not the White House, set the review in motion, the top Democrat on the House watchdog committee said Sunday.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., released a partial transcript of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform interview with the unnamed manager in the IRS Cincinnati office. In it, the employee said the extra scrutiny for tea-party groups tax-exempt status was an effort to be consistent in reviewing applications and not driven by politics.
Republicans have complained the IRS targeted tea-party groups because they are critical of Democrats and President Barack Obama. An internal IRS report found the agency improperly targeted the small-government advocates for additional scrutiny.
Police ID gunman in Santa Monica rampage
SANTA MONICA, Calif. A woman who was critically wounded in the Santa Monica shooting spree died Sunday, bringing the total number of victims killed by the gunman to five.
Marcela Franco, 26, died of her injuries at UCLA Medical Center, according to Santa Monica College spokeswoman Tricia Ramos.
Franco had been a passenger in a Ford Explorer driven by her father, campus groundskeeper Carlos Navarro Franco, 68, who also was killed in Fridays attack. They were going to the school to buy textbooks for classes the young woman was enrolled in for the summer, president Chui L. Tsang said in a statement posted on the colleges website.
Her family was with her by her side when she died, Tsang said.
Police Sgt. Richard Lewis confirmed the suspects identity Sunday as John Zawahri. Meanwhile, investigators trying to determine why he planned the shooting spree focused on a deadly act of domestic violence that touched off the mayhem.
Erin Brockovich arrested while boating
Environmental activist Erin Brockovich, portrayed by Julia Roberts in a 2000 movie about her fight over the pollution of a California town, was arrested on suspicion of boating while intoxicated at Lake Mead near Las Vegas, authorities said Sunday.
Brockovich was arrested late Friday night after breath tests showed her blood-alcohol level was just over twice the legal limit of .08, said Edwin Lyngar, spokesman for the Nevada Department of Wildlife.
A game warden noticed she was struggling and needed assistance while trying to moor her motor boat at the Las Vegas Boat Harbor, he said. Brockovich had been out on the boat with a male companion but was alone when she tried to dock it.
She was not sure how to maneuver the boat into the dock, Lyngar told The Associated Press. Its a simple thing if you can think clearly. But if you add alcohol and unfamiliarity of the area, it can all cause serious problems.
Brockovich, 52, of Agoura Hills, Calif., was released from the Clark County Detention Center after posting $1,000 bail.
Associated Press
