10 things you need to know today: May 20, 2013

New IRS revelations, Taylor Swift wins big at the Billboard awards, and more

Taylor Swift with her trophies on May 19.
(Image credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

1. OBAMA'S LAWYERS KNEW ABOUT IRS CASE FOR WEEKS

President Obama's top lawyer found out weeks ago that Internal Revenue Service employees had improperly targeted conservatives groups, a White House official said Sunday. The White House counsel didn't tell Obama, however. The president only learned about the controversy when the public did, two weeks later. Critics said the president's lawyers should have kept him better informed, but others said it was right not to involve him, to avoid the appearance of White House meddling in the investigation. [Wall Street Journal]

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.