The Note's Must-Reads for Wednesday May 22, 2013

The Note’s Must-Reads are a round-up of today’s political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.com Compiled by ABC News’ Carrie Halperin, Jayce Henderson and Amanda VanAllen IRS SCANDAL The Hill’s Peter Schroeder and...

Watch: Scout's Honor? Gay Rights Advocate Seeks to Overturn Ban on Gay Boy Scouts

Eagle Scout says inclusion of gay Boy Scouts is only the first step

Cole: Okla. Needs Help, Not Funding Battle

Republican Rep. Tom Cole, whose district took a direct hit from a powerful tornado on Monday, said the residents of the tornado ravaged towns in Oklahoma need help, not a political battle over funding in Washington. “Once a disaster starts, to me that’s the end...

Immigration Reform Moves to Senate

The bipartisan Senate "Gang of Eight" held together despite an onslaught of amendments and some efforts to kill their comprehensive immigration reform bill.

Okla. Sens. Grapple With Disaster Votes

Oklahoma's Senators both opposed disaster aid after Superstorm Sandy.

New Evidence of Iran Support to Assad

The United States has new evidence that Iran and Hezbollah have direct involvement with the Syrian regime, a senior State Department official told reporters traveling with Secretary of State John Kerry in Oman. The official said that, according to the Free Syrian Army, Hezbollah and...

Gay Marriage Yanked From Immigration Debate

The Senate “Gang of Eight” immigration reform bill survived perhaps its toughest challenge late in the day, as the Senate Judiciary Committee refused to approve an amendment that would have allowed gays and lesbians to sponsor their partners for immigration in the same way married...

Citizenship Pathway Survives in Bill

The "pathway to citizenship," a key provision of the immigration reform bill designed to bring 11 million undocumented immigrants out of the shadows, came under fire today during the Senate markup of the bill.

General in Adultery Probe Suspended

WASHINGTON — The Army has suspended the one-star commanding general at Fort Jackson, S.C., for alleged misconduct involving adultery and an unspecified physical altercation. An Army official tells ABC News that the case does not involve sexual assault. Brig. Gen. Bryan T. Roberts was suspended...

Lew Defends Handling of IRS Scandal

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Jack Lew called the unfair scrutiny the Internal Revenue Service gave some tea party groups “outrageous methods,” adding that while the “conduct was not politically motivated it was unacceptable and inexcusable.” “Administering the tax code without any hint of bias is...

IRS Official Lois Lerner to Take the Fifth

Lois Lerner, the top IRS official who is at the center of the controversy for the targeting of tea party and other conservative groups, will refuse to answer questions at a congressional hearing Wednesday and invoke her Fifth Amendment rights, ABC News has learned. She...

IRS 'Blemish' Prompts Senators' Scorn

Douglas Shulman, the former commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, said today he was “dismayed and saddened” that his agency had improperly targeting conservative groups, but declined to offer a direct apology and dismissed suggestions that he mislead Congress. The testimony from Shulman, who was...

Groups File First Suits Against IRS

The first group that claims they were unfairly scrutinized by the Internal Revenue Service filed suit today against the agency in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking damages and the granting of their long-delayed tax-exempt status application. True the Vote, a Houston-based voter watchdog group, filed...

Obama Offers Support to Okla. Victims

Obama offers federal aid to victims of Oklahoma tornado victims.

This Week in History

This week in history holds some incredible events, such as the founding of the Red Cross and the Great Emigration west to Oregon. From the revolutionary war onward, check out what happened this week in history.

Watch: President Obama: Tornado Victims 'Will Have Support'

The president discusses relief efforts in Oklahoma for those devastated by tornadoes.

Caution and Bombast: Two GOP Responses to Scandal

As a trio of scandals are all combining to embarrass the Obama administration at the same time, a growing number of Republicans are worried their party will screw it up. For every cry of "impeachment," there's a louder cry from the GOP establishment not to get too far ahead of themselves, at least not yet.

Obama Floats Above The Fray - For Now

By MICHAEL FALCONE (@michaelpfalcone) NOTABLES STEADY AS HE GOES: Americans, in a new ABC News-Washington Post poll out today, sharply reject special scrutiny of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service, suspect an administration cover-up of the Benghazi incident and express substantial distrust of the federal...

Public Sharply Critical on IRS, Benghazi

Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll sharply reject special scrutiny of conservative groups by the Internal Revenue Service, suspect an administration cover-up of the Benghazi incident and express substantial distrust of the federal government more generally. Yet the national survey also finds no backlash...

Rand Paul Calls IRS Scandal Un-American

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul made another stop in an early voting state Monday evening, continuing to feed the speculation that he will possibly run for president in 2016. Just 10 days after stopping in the first caucus state of Iowa, he visited the first primary state of...

Apple Moved 'Golden Goose Offshore'

WASHINGTON — Apple has avoided paying tens of billions of dollars in U.S. taxes by creating a complex web of subsidiary companies, particularly three in Ireland, a new Senate investigation has found. The company is not accused of breaking the law, but senators said Apple...

Watch: Misconduct at the IRS: Who Knew What When?

White House says president responded quickly after published Inspector General report.

Watch: Misconduct at the IRS: Who Knew What When?

White House says president responded quickly after published Inspector General report.

Watch: DOJ vs. Fox News Reporter James Rosen

White House responds to questions about the seizing of correspondent's phone records, emails.

DOJ Goes After Fox News Reporter

WASHINGTON — In yet another Justice Department leak investigation of journalists, DOJ reportedly seized emails and phone records of Fox News correspondent James Rosen, and even tracked his comings and goings into the State Department by tracking when he scanned his ID at the building’s...

WH Chief of Staff Knew About IRS Probe in April

WASHINGTON — The White House answer to “who knew what and when?” shifted again today as White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and “other members of the senior staff” knew about the investigation into the IRS’s targeting...

Apple Avoids Billions in Taxes: Senate

A new Senate investigation has found that Apple Inc. has used a complex web of offshore companies – particularly three in Ireland – to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. income taxes. Apple executives will visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday to respond to the...

NYC, LA May Get Women Mayors

Neither of the nation’s two largest cities, New York and Los Angeles, have ever had female mayors, but that could change big time this year, as both cities have strong female candidates with a chance of becoming mayor, in races where the incumbents are term-limited....

Sec. Kerry Promises Foreign Service Officers They Will Be Protected

ARLINGTON, Va. — Secretary of State John Kerry gave new Foreign Service officers a final pep talk today before they are deployed overseas, many to what are termed “high-threat” posts, like Afghanistan and Libya, where there have been recent fatal attacks on U.S. diplomatic missions....

Christie Stars in NJ Tourism Ads, Dems Cry Foul

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his family are starring in television commercials that are part of a publicly funded $25 million tourism campaign to encourage people to visit the Jersey Shore after Superstorm Sandy, but Democrats say they are simply taxpayer-funded campaign ads. The...