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bitterly chastising the agency for abandoning its charge of making nonpolitical decisions about which groups should qualify for tax-exempt status, which makes it easier for them to collect contributions from donors.
• Lawmakers also have said that despite asking the IRS repeatedly about complaints from conservative groups that their applications were being treated unfairly, the agency -- including Miller -- never told them the groups were being targeted, even after May 2012, when the agency said Miller was briefed on the practice. Miller was previously a deputy commissioner whose portfolio included the unit that made decisions about tax-exempt status.
• Also testifying Friday was J. Russell George, the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration.
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Obama says military leaders are 'ashamed' about sexual assault, vows to end the 'scourge'
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is pledging to eliminate the "scourge" of sexual assault in the military while cautioning that it will take a long and sustained effort by all military members.
• "There is no silver bullet to solving this problem," Obama said Thursday after meeting with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the top brass from all the military services.
• "We will not stop until we've seen this scourge, from what is the greatest military in the world, eliminated," he told reporters.
• Senior military officers are speaking about the problem with increasing bluntness and expressions of regret. Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Wednesday called it a "crisis" in the ranks, and on Thursday the Army chief of staff, Gen. Ray Odierno, publicly acknowledged his service's efforts are "failing."
• "They care about this and they are angry about it," Obama said.
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Granbury man feels fortunate his home was only damaged by tornado, not destroyed
• GRANBURY, Texas (AP) -- Raul Rodriguez counts himself a lucky man.
• For two years, the 42-year-old auto mechanic and his family have enjoyed life in his house in the Rancho Brazos Estates subdivision of Granbury, a North Texas town 40 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Built by volunteers for Habitat for Humanity, it was the first home Rodriguez has ever owned.
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