Rove: Obama Didn't Think Scandals Were Phony Earlier

President Barack Obama can talk about "phony scandals" all he wants, says Karl Rove, but he was singing a different tune just a few short months ago when the stories first broke.

A purported cover-up of the Benghazi attack, Justice Department moves against reporters and IRS agents targeting conservative groups all brought vows from Obama to get to the root of the problems and punish anyone found responsible, he said.

"What happened between the time they made that statement and today?" asked the former Bush adviser Thursday on Fox News Channel's "Hannity."

"We do not know who is responsible for the lie to the American people that this was all because of a video which no one saw," said Rove of the Benghazi story.

The White House initially blamed the attack on the U.S. diplomatic facility that left the Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others dead on an anti-Muslim YouTube video. Those claims have since been walked back, and Republicans in Congress have held hearings to determine who was behind talking points that blamed the video.

Rove also told Hannity he disagrees with a plan by some House Republicans to defund Obamacare by threatening a government shutdown. The plan gives Obama "the bully pulpit and a gigantic stick with which to beat us," he said.