Joe Biden tears up at son Beau Biden's DNC speech

In the wake of tornadoes that devastated parts of Oklahoma and killed dozens, first lady Michelle Obama said "our thoughts and prayers are with all the people in Oklahoma," adding that President Obama has directed the "full resources" of the federal government to help Oklahomans recover and rebuild.

Despite visitor logs saying he visited the White House 118 times in 2010 and 2011, former IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman says he was "absolutely sure" he did not speak with any White House officials about the probe into the IRS's singling out of conservative groups for additional scrutiny.

Former IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman, who was in charge of the agency when the practice of scrutinizing conservative groups was initiated, said that the White House and the Treasury Department did not sanction or suggest IRS employees' targeting practices.

After IRS official Lois Lerner invoked the Fifth Amendment to decline to testify before Congress today, several Republican congressmen said she had waived her right to avoid self-incrimination by providing an opening statement that alluded to her innocence. "You don't get to tell your side of the story and then not be subjected to cross examination, that's not the way it works," said Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., based on answers he received from a Treasury Department inspector general about the IRS targeting conservative groups, said, "The American people today should not have confidence that this is an isolated incident."

Insisting that she's "done nothing wrong," Lois Lerner, the IRS official in charge of the division that targeted conservative nonprofit groups for additional scrutiny of their applications for tax-exempt status, invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during congressional testimony on Wednesday.