Networks Ignore IRS Seeking Criminal Investigation of Tax-Exempt Groups; CNN Barely Reports

On Thursday morning's New Day, CNN reported the newest development in the IRS scandal that the broadcast networks ignored: the former IRS chief contacting the Justice Department about criminal investigations of tax-exempt groups.

"The activist group Judicial Watch has released e-mails that show the agency in talks with the Justice Department to investigate some tax exempt organizations for possible fraud," reported CNN's John Berman. He added that according to the e-mails, "criminal investigations" were a possibility before the IRS targeting scandal broke last year.

CNN only gave two news briefs -- 43 seconds in total -- to the story, however, ignoring it during all the other news hours.

None of the broadcast networks reported the news on Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Earlier this week, the networks ignored [1] another big development in the scandal, the RNC suing the IRS for "illegal stonewalling" of their requests for documents related to the scandal.

The latest omissions are only the latest [2] in a string of developments in the scandal missed by the networks.

Also, President Obama was not asked about the story at his Thursday afternoon press conference.

Below is a transcript of the segment:

CNN
NEW DAY
4/17/14
[7:13 a.mD ET]

JOHN BERMAN: Meanwhile, a new wrinkle in the IRS scandal involving the targeting of Tea Party groups. The activist group Judicial Watch has released e-mails that show the agency in talks with the Justice Department to investigate some tax exempt organizations for possible fraud. The new documents show just how close the government came to criminal investigations before the IRS targeting became public knowledge.