President Obama, in the wake of the scandals gripping the White House, particularly the IRS' targeting of conservative groups and the Justice Department's seizure of AP journalists' phone records, was asked Thursday how he felt about such tactics by his administration being compared to those of President Nixon:
JEFF MASON: I'd like to ask you about the Justice Department. Do you believe that the seizure of phone records from Associated Press journalists before that was announced this week was in overreach, and do you still have full confidence in your Attorney General? Should we interpret yesterday's renewed interest by the White House in a media shield law as a response to that? And more broadly, how do you feel about comparisons by some of your critics of this week's scandals to those that happened under the Nixon administration?
OBAMA: Well, I'll let you guys engage in those comparisons, and you can go ahead and read the history, I think, and draw your own conclusions. My concern is making sure that if there's a problem in the government, that we fix it. That's my responsibility, and that's what we're going to do. That's true with respect to the IRS and making sure that they apply the laws the way they were intended. That's true with respect to the security of our diplomats, which is why we're going to need to work with Congress to make sure that there's adequate funding for what's necessary out there.