BOSTON — The controversies swirling around the Obama administration — from the IRS targeting of conservative groups to lingering questions about last year's terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya — are threatening to engulf Massachusetts' special U.S. Senate election.
The troubles could make it harder for Republican candidate Gabriel Gomez to turn the focus of the race back on jobs, the economy and budget as he tries to tie his rival and longtime Democratic Congressman Edward Markey to the nation's sluggish recovery.
But the episodes could also prove problematic for Markey if the public begins to blame President Barack Obama — and by extension other Democratic candidates — for the perceived overreach of the administration.
Although Markey has condemned the behavior of the IRS and said the nation should hunt down those responsible for the Benghazi attack, Gomez is trying to link him to the spate of controversies — including the Justice Department's decision to secretly obtain two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press.
"These scandals mark a major abuse of government power and a lack of transparency," Gomez said. "What is Congressman Markey doing about them? Nothing."
Gomez was particularly critical of Markey's comments on questions raised by Republicans about the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Markey told the AP that those responsible for the attack "should either be captured and tried or located and killed."
But Markey has also portrayed Republican hearings into the attack as an attempt by GOP lawmakers to undermine confidence in former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a possible presidential candidate.
"This is a partisan political circus concocted by House Republicans to go after Hillary Clinton for the 2016 presidential election," Markey said. "I am very interested in getting to the bottom of what happened and to make sure it never happens again."
Gomez, a Cohasset private equity investor and former Navy SEAL, said it's Markey who's trying to play politics with the attack.
"To think it's more important to think about Hillary Clinton's election in 2016 as opposed to getting down to the bottom of the fact that we lost an ambassador and three other people and we still don't have answers on that, it's just despicable," Gomez said during a recent campaign stop.
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» Washington scandals intrude on Mass. Senate race pitting GOP's Gomez against Democrat Markey
Washington scandals intrude on Mass. Senate race pitting GOP's Gomez against Democrat Markey
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Posted on 7:23 AM