Marco Rubio on IRS Scandal: Obama 'Doesn't Have Clean Hands in This

AP

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Thursday went off on President Barack Obama for creating a "culture of intimidation" that led to the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups.

"The president doesn't have clean hands in this," Rubio said. "This administration has created a culture of intimidation...it's basically an attempt to muscle anyone who is their political opponent and to use whatever power they have at their disposal to intimidate people that they don't agree with."

Obama announced the resignation of acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller on Wednesday, but Rubio said Obama didn't go far enough, and should have vowed to prosecute any criminal wrongdoers.

Ticking off the trifecta of controversies now hanging over the White House, Rubio said that "whether it's the Associated Press, whether it's witnesses at the State Department, or whether it's using the IRS to go after groups that don't agree with the Obama agenda," the administration has "created a culture of intimidation through its campaign and through the White House throughout the federal government."

He said there's a proven track record within the administration of using "hardball tactics" against political opponents -- behavior that is "rewarded and modeled and, quite frankly in my opinion, encouraged."