This week, leaders in the House and Senate condemned the Internal Revenue Service for the current controversy about its targeting of conservative groups (as you saw on Meet the Press this weekend). Over thirty years ago, the GOP Leader in Congress came on Meet the Press for a different purpose: to defend the President against harsh treatment by the IRS. In April of 1974, House Republican leader Rep. John Rhodes, of Arizona, appeared on Meet the Press to defend President Nixon, who was under fire for having paid very little in taxes during his first two years as President, and for taking a huge deduction from the donation of his vice presidential papers to the national archives – a process that was completed after a law banning such deductions was put in place. When the accusations came to light in 1973, Nixon released his tax returns and requested that the Congressional Joint Committee on Internal Revenue Taxation examine them (read his letter accompanying the release here). Days before Rhodes’ appearance on Meet the Press, the Joint Committee had released a detailed report concluding that Nixon owed over $400,000 in back taxes. The report was made public, over the complaints of the White House, and the President found himself facing another scandal, in the midst of the ongoing Watergate case. On Meet the Press, Rhodes accused the Committee and the IRS of not giving the President a chance to present his case. Though Nixon was largely thought to be cozy with the IRS, Rhodes argued that the organization had been “certainly as harsh as anybody could expect them to be on this President.”

Rhodes at the time was one of Nixon’s strongest supporters, and on Meet the Press, he vehemently denied that there were enough votes in his caucus to impeach the President. Later that summer, however, the congressman would play a huge part in Nixon’s resignation. After more reports and tape recordings on the Watergate scandal came out, Rhodes publicly called for Nixon to resign and resisted efforts by the President’s supporters to slow the investigation. On August 7^th 1974, exactly four months after his Meet the Press appearance, Rhodes and two other Republicans met the President to inform him that he faced certain impeachment. Nixon resigned the next day. (Read about the rest of James Rhodes’ career in his New York Times obituary). You can watch Rep. John Rhodes defending President Nixon against the IRS in the 1974 Meet the Press clip below.

The White House this morning pushed back against charges of conspiracy and cover ups in the wake of three controversies this week. White House Senior Adviser Dan Pfeiffer rejected the notion that there is a "cloud" of scandal over the administration and accused Republicans are playing politics with the issues. 

"We've seen this playbook from the Republicans before," alleged Pfeiffer. "What they want to do when they're lacking a positive agenda is try to drag Washington into a swamp of partisan fishing expeditions, trumped up hearings and false allegations."

Pfeiffer cited the GOP's use of a "doctored" White House email in order to stoke fear among the public around Benghazi. "After 25,000 pieces of paper were provided to Congress, they have to doctor an e-mail to make political hay? You know they're getting desperate here."

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) disagreed. He said the IRS's targeting of conservative groups amounts to a "culture of intimidation," within the administration. However, both he and Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) admitted there is no evidence that would suggest the president was personally at fault in in the IRS debacle.

"I don't think we know what the facts are," McConnell said. Camp later added, "We don't have anything to say that the president knew about it."

You can watch the entire program on our website including our political roundtable and a special conversation with former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Also don't miss our extended Take Two web extra with Rumsfeld. 

We're off next week due to NBC's coverage of Formula 1 racing, but we will return the following week. 

If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld joins David Gregory to discuss his new book, "Rumsfeld's Rules," as well as the biggest issues facing the country's military and foreign policy today.

Dan Pfeiffer, Senior Adviser to the President

• Dan Pfeiffer, senior adviser to the President, maintains that the first time anyone inside the White House was made aware that the IRS was targeting conservative groups was “when we heard a few weeks ago that there was an active inspector general report into the IRS.” He also added they were not given any details “until they came out in the press.”
• On Thursday, he was part of a group of several senior White House officials who met with “outside Democratic strategists for advice on how to get past the controversies and back on track advancing the President’s agenda.”

Watch his PRESS Pass appearance and check out 8 Things to about Dan Pfeiffer

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)

• Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been talking about the IRS unfairly targeting conservative political groups since last June. That’s when he called-out the agency, during a speech he gave in Washington, for “demanding attendance lists, meeting transcripts and donor lists” from tea party groups across the country.
• This week he described the IRS scandal as “no little thing” and said “this is a big thing.” Later on the Senate floor he called on the president to “make available, completely and without restriction, everyone who can answer the questions we have as to what was going on at the IRS, who knew about it, and how high it went.”
• Sen. McConnell, who is up for re-election in 2014, did pick up the endorsement of a tea party group targeted by the IRS, TheTeaParty.net this week. The group’s chief strategist said “we need Sen. McConnell more than ever” and praised him for “sounding the alarm about the government’s assault on our First Amendment rights years ago.”  

Watch his most recent MTP appearance and look at 7 thinks to know about Mitch McConnell  

Donald Rumsfeld, Former Secretary of Defense

• Donald Rumsfeld was the 13^th and 21^st U.S. Secretary of Defense, former member of Congress, U.S. Ambassador, and White House Chief of Staff.
• This week Rumsfeld spoke-out about the September attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, saying “if you’re going to put people at risk, you have to try and protect them.”
• Rumsfeld also criticized President Obama and other surrogates for calling that the Benghazi attack a “spontaneous demonstration, because of YouTube.” He suggested that motive was promoted for several days following the attack because “it fit their hopes and what they wanted to see be the case.”       
• On Tuesday, Rumsfeld released his second book “Rumsfeld’s Rules: Lessons in Business, Politics, War, and Life.”

Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee

• Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI) is the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He led Friday’s hearing on the IRS’s “targeting” of conservative groups and criticized the agency for the “blatant disregard with which the agency has treated Congress and the American taxpayer.”
• Ahead of Friday’s hearing, Rep. Camp said there seemed to be political motives behind the IRS leaking confidential information because “only one political perspective was targeted.”

The Roundtable: Becerra, Woodward, and Noonan

• Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) serves as Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and is the first Latino to serve on the House Ways and Means Committee. He is also part of a bipartisan group in the House working on immigration reform. The Heritage Foundation released a report last week that was critical of immigration reform for what it says will “pose large fiscal costs for U.S. taxpayers.” Rep. Becerra said the report “is full of holes and won’t sink the reform push this year.” Watch his most recent MTP appearance.
• Bob Woodward is an author, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and associate editor of the Washington Post. On Friday he called the IRS scandal a “big mess” but said that it had “not yet” reached the level of the Watergate scandal, which he uncovered in 1972. Woodward said Benghazi is still a “very serious issue” and one that shows why he believes the federal government should “get rid of talking points” and instead put out “statements or papers that are truth documents.” Watch his most recent MTP appearance.
• Wall Street Journal Columnist Peggy Noonan wrote this week that “we are in the midst of the worst Washington scandal since Watergate.” She said it would be wrong for any Republican to turn this scandal “into a mere partisan arguing point” because “this is about the integrity of our system of government and our ability to trust.” Noonan is also the author of seven books on American politics, history and culture. Watch her latest MTP appearance.

Follow these guests on Twitter:

• Dan Pfeiffer:@pfeiffer44
• Mitch McConnell: @McConnellPress
• Rep. Dave Camp:@RepDaveCamp
• Rep. Xavier Becerra: @RepBecerra
• Peggy Noonan:@Peggynoonannyc 

Also follow @jessicataylor, @davidgregory, and @meetthepress for more updates about the show

Associated Press

1) He's held a lot of positions for Team Obama. From the White House:

Dan Pfeiffer currently serves as Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor. In January 2009, Pfeiffer joined the White House as Deputy Communications Director and became the Communications Director in December 2009. He first joined the President’s campaign as the Traveling Press Secretary and later became the Communications Director.

2) He's a workaholic and wakes up very early. From Newsweek:

“You’d wake up at six in the morning and check to see if there was an email that Dan had sent at five about a story that had moved at four that he had seen before anyone else,” recalls a former administration official. He is known for wandering the halls of the White House clutching a to-do list of 20 or 30 items.

3)  He often references "obscure" '80s and '90s movies and sitcoms. From the Washington Post

During the campaign, he insisted that the handful of people who were secretly planning an Obama European tour refer to it as a trip to Walley World, the fictional theme park in the 1983 film "National Lampoon's Vacation." Colleagues say he often cites cast members of obscure '80s and '90s movies and sitcoms.

4) He comes from a state that's home to many political pros. From POLITICO:

On why Delaware has produced so many elite politicos (Joe Biden, Dan Pfeiffer, David Plouffe, Steve Schmidt): “It’s a state that rewards hard work. When you’re from Delaware, people unfortunately make fun of you. So, you probably do have to have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder.”

5) His birthday is on Christmas Eve and he likes to spend it alone. Again from Newsweek. 

When fellow West Wingers asked Pfeiffer how he wanted to celebrate his Christmas Eve birthday this year, he told them he wanted to sit in his office, eating a cake from the White House mess hall, alone. “So we got him a mess cake and ate a few pieces of it ourselves,” recalls [WH Communications Director Jen] Palmieri. “Then we closed his office door and left him to eat the rest.”

6) He likes junk food and Jay-Z. Again from the Washington Post

He inhales Diet Coke, frequently munches on Starbursts and Skittles, and favors Miller Lite. Pfeiffer and Obama are among the biggest Jay-Z fans in the White House, according to several people familiar with Pfeiffer's iPod.

7) Pfeiffer tells Meet the Press via email that he has been a Georgetown University basketball season ticket holder for "many years" and, growing up, he lived in both Brazil and Japan. 

8) He's been on PRESS Pass:

Associated Press

1) Mitch is his middle name. His first name is Addison. 

2) He is a huge fan of University of Louisville sports. As Democratic Senator Mark Pryor joked on a radio show (via The Hill):

"It's not really a closely guarded secret, but they don't talk about it too much, ... Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, is a huge Louisville fan. Huge — off the charts, I mean he's an unbelievably big Louisville fan," Pryor said Friday in an interview on The Ticket radio show on 92.1 FM. "I think sometimes we schedule our votes around either Louisville, either football or basketball games."

3) His re-election campaign hopes to lead the way for the GOP in use of technology. From the National Journal.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has set an ambitious goal for his reelection campaign: to build the most sophisticated Republican digital and data operation to date.

The Kentucky Republican, known more as tactician than technologist, is making a major investment in technology infrastructure in hopes that a treasure trove of real-time data about the electorate will help guide him to a sixth term.

4) He had polio and was kept off his feet for two years. From the New York Times. 

He developed polio at the age of 2. His mother engaged him in daily physical therapy ''like a drill sergeant,'' driving him regularly for treatment at Warm Springs, Ga., and keeping him off his feet for two years.

5) He's a huge fan of Washington Nationals' outfielder Bryce Harper - so much so that he and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) discussed it on the Senate floor this week. From USA Today.

 "This kid is the most incredible competitor I've ever seen." [McConnell] asked Reid to relay a message to Harper's mother, Sheri.

"This is one thing that leaders on both sides fully agree on: We're hoping Harper has a speedy recovery and is back in the lineup," McConnell said.

6) He married former U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chow in 1993 on Ronald Reagan's birthday. 

7) This Sunday will be McConnell's 28th appearance on Meet the Press

Historian Rick Atkinson said there is "quite a difference" between Americans’ connection to World War II when compared to the more recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because of the smaller percentage of Americans in uniform. 

"Almost no one has someone they love in harm's way. Almost no one has skin in the game."

Atkinson's new book, The Guns at Last Light, is the final in his Liberation Trilogy about America's involvement in Europe during World War II. 

The former Assistant Managing Editor at the Washington Post also weighed in on the current controversy over the Department of Justice's monitoring of the Associated Press's phone lines calling it "appalling."

However, he said, the situation is not in the same ballpark as it was during World War II "where there was draconian censorship, and reporters wear uniforms, and they’re effectively in the chain of command"

"My feeling is, that if the Justice Department or the administration is going to be wire-tapping journalists, or they’re going to be examining whom journalists are speaking to, it better be as transparent as it can be," he said, otherwise "it’ll just come around and bite them in the rear end."

Watch David's entire interview with Rick Atkinson above to hear more from the author including what he describes as "an extraordinarily powerful, moving several months in our history."

Answer:

The only mother-daughter pair to appear together on Meet the Press traveled a long way to be on the program: South Vietnam’s Madame Ngo Dinh Nhu,  and her daughter Mademoiselle Le Thuy were the Meet the Press guests on October 13^th, 1963. Madame Nhu was the wife of Ngo Dinh Nhu, the powerful leader of the secret police in South Vietnam and Political Counselor to his brother, South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. Because President Diem was a lifelong bachelor, Madame Nhu took over the role of first lady in South Vietnam. She gained prominence in her country and worldwide as a glamorous trendsetter, but Madame Nhu was also one of the president’s closest advisers and frequently referred to as the most powerful, and feared, woman in Vietnam. She was famously outspoken, and a harsh critic of those who opposed her brother-in-law’s regime both inside Vietnam and in the United States. She appeared on Meet the Press in the midst of a high-profile speaking tour across America which she claimed was in order to “understand why we can’t get along better.” In fact Nhu spent much of the tour attacking President Diem’s critics and speaking out against the United States government for reducing aid to Diem. While Madame Nhu was still on her tour, in November of 1963, her husband and Diem were executed in a coup in South Vietnam.

Watch the clip from October of 1963 to see moderator Ned Brooks explain why Madame Nhu had brought her daughter with her to Meet the Press, and to see an affectionate moment between the two women…

Betsy Fischer Martin - the Senior Executive Producer of Meet the Press - poses a trivia question on Twitter, @BetsyMTP about the 65 years of history-making moments and guests on Meet The Press. Check Press Pass for answers and video clips!

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) wants to take deposition from the leaders of the State Department's Accountability Review Board on Benghazi. 

Ambassador Thomas Pickering and Admiral Mike Mullen will be invited Monday for a "private deposition so [Issa's committee] can get the facts in a non partisan way."

When asked if he would appear before Issa's committee, Pickering, who was also a guest this morning, replied "of course."

As House Oversight Chairman, Issa defended his committee’s hearings against those who say they are an attempt by Republicans to "target" former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton  for political reasons. 

"Hillary Clinton is not a target. President Obama is not a target. The target is how did we fail three different ways," he said on this morning's Meet the Press. 

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) disagreed later on the program, saying she worries politics are a motivating factor behind the Republican interest in Benghazi.

"My concern is when Hillary Clinton's name is mentioned 32 times in a hearing, that the point of the hearing is to discredit the secretary of state who has very high popularity and may well be a candidate for president."

However, the Intelligence chairwoman gave credence to some of the charges by Republicans and was critical of the White House for being too "cautious," on Benghazi. She would have liked the president "to move faster" in calling it a terror attack because it was "so evident."

You can watch the entire program on our website to hear more on the Benghazi attack including an exchange between Issa and Ambassador Thomas Pickering on why he did not testify at last week's hearing. 

Happy Mother's Day to all. We'll be back next week.

If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. 

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

• Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and led the charge in the committee’s congressional hearing on the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attacks on the American consulate in Benghazi. After the hearing, which has been described as emotional, Rep. Issa released a statement calling for further investigation into the attack because “numerous questions are still unanswered, despite months of dogged investigation by the Oversight Committee.” However, he said, the testimony did tell him “the facts as we were told before during and after the attack at Benghazi simply aren't what they really were.”
• Prior to the committee’s hearing, Rep. Issa said the responsibility of the attack lies with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her top aides: “If Hillary Clinton is not responsible for the before, during and after mistakes ... it’s somebody close. There certainly are plenty of people close to the former secretary who knew, and apparently were part of the problem.”
• Watch Rep. Issa’s latest Meet the Press appearance.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

• Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, appeared on Meet the Press in November to discuss the Benghazi attack and the hearings her committee held. She said she did not believe the public was misled for political reasons or that there had been a cover up in the president’s administration, and “the allegation that the White House changed those talking points [used by Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice], that is false.” Sen. Feinstein also said, “The security aspect of this is one of the biggest things. I went through hundreds of threat warnings … There is no question that Benghazi was one of the most difficult places. It should have had much better security.”
• Sen. Feinstein also sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the committee which has seen both gun control legislation and comprehensive immigration reform before it this year.  The immigration bill, which she called “a major breakthrough” with “concessions by both sides,” underwent markup in this committee this week.  Last month, Sen. Feinstein’s assault weapons ban passed the committee but did not pass in the full Senate.
• Watch the senator’s most recent MTP appearance here.

Ambassador Thomas Pickering

• Ambassador Thomas Pickering chaired the State Department’s Accountability Review Board that investigated the Benghazi attacks. He said of the attack, “Frankly, the State Department had not given Benghazi the security, both physical and personnel resources, it needed.” However, he also said he was worried the attack would “let the pendulum over-swing; that we now put ourselves back into position of fortress embassies out which we never go to do the diplomatic work of the country. … not all of our posts are like Benghazi. It was, in some ways, quite unique, both in its exposures and its vulnerability. But we have to do business in a world where there are going to be Benghazis, and it's important that we do business, that we not hole up in bank vaults.” During his career, Pickering served as under secretary of state for political affairs and as ambassador to the United Nations, the Russian Federation, India, Israel, and Jordan.

The Roundtable: Kinzinger, Brooks, Kay, and Moore

• Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said of the Benghazi attacks, “it was the anniversary of 9/11. Why were we not thinking this through and having people forward located in case something does happen and, you know, we just didn’t and that's what we have to get to the bottom of.” Here is his latest MTP appearance.
• New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote this week, that while immigration reform opponents have “many small complaints, but they really have one core concern. It’s about control” but if “conservatives defeat immigration reform, the Republicans will definitely lose control of one thing for years to come: political power.” Brooks is also the author of “The Social Animal.” Watch his latest appearance here.
• BBC World News America anchor Katty Kay recently said, “The House is still the stumbling block” when it comes to passing immigration reform. However, “there is this overarching self-interest in Republican Party, which the leadership realizes and will really try to push with the rank-and-file members of the House in a way they weren’t ever going to do with the gun bill. They’re going to try much harder to get immigration through because this is a survival issue for the party.” She also wrote, “Womenomics.” Watch her most recent MTP appearance.
• Author Wes Moore, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, is featured in June’s issue of Men’s Fitness magazine for his fitness routine. Moore, whose father died when he was a child, wrote this week in Huffington Post about what not to say to young boys who grow up without a father. Growing up “a fatherless child is complicated and challenging … The conversation about fatherless boys often circles around what we should tell them, how we motivate them, how we incentivize them. Those things are important. But what matters most is what you don't say to them.” He wrote the book, “The Other Wes Moore.” Watch his most recent appearance on the show here.

Follow these guests on Twitter:

• Sen. Dianne Feinstein: @SenFeinstein 
• Rep. Darrell Issa: @DarrellIssa
• Adam Kinzinger: @RepKinzinger
• David Brooks: @nytdavidbrooks
• Katty Kay: @KattyKayBBC
• Wes Moore: @WesMoore1

Also follow @AliNBCNews, @davidgregory, and @meetthepress for more updates about the show.