Question that revealed IRS scandal was planted, chief admits  —  Steven Miller, the acting IRS commissioner, said Friday that last week's revelation that the IRS gave special scrutiny to Tea Party groups came from a planted question.  —  Lois Lerner, an IRS official with oversight of tax-exempt groups …

WH Benghazi emails have different quotes than earlier reported  —  (CBS News) WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama called Thursday for tighter security for U.S. diplomatic facilities to prevent an attack like the one in Benghazi, Libya, last year that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Kinsley loves austerity because it is “spinach”  —  The liberal pundit supports a worthless international initiative  —  So the other day Paul Krugman had a long, very good piece in the New York Review of Books on the arguments and flawed research used to justify austerity measures …

Officials on Benghazi: “We made mistakes, but without malice”  —  Obama administration officials who were in key positions on Sept. 11, 2012 acknowledge that a range of mistakes were made the night of the attacks on the U.S. missions in Benghazi, and in messaging to Congress and the public in the aftermath.

Harry Reid eyeing July for the ‘nuclear option’  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is increasingly focused on the month of July as the time to exercise the so-called “nuclear option” and revisit filibuster reform, and he has privately told top advisers that he's all but certain to take action …

Elizabeth Warren Slams ‘Dangerous’ Legislation That Would Weaken Wall Street Reform  —  A week after a bipartisan group of lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee overwhelmingly approved a rollback of certain financial reforms contained in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act …

Rep. Issa subpoenas Benghazi auditor Thomas Pickering  —  The lawmaker leading the charge to investigate the Benghazi terror attack on Friday subpoenaed the co-author of a report that slammed the State Department but didn't interview Hillary Clinton.  —  House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa …

Even Obama's umbrellas are a scandal now  —  Even President Obama's use of umbrellas has become a scandal in the eyes of some Republicans.  —  On Thursday, during a joint press conference with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, Obama signaled to two Marines and asked them to protect him and his guest from the rain.

Reporter Turned White House Spokesman Enjoys the Hot Seat  —  WASHINGTON — For the better part of a decade, Jay Carney sat slumped in his tiny chair in the White House briefing room, parsing, challenging and at times pillorying the words of an array of press secretaries.

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in ‘crack cocaine’ video scandal  —  A video that appears to show Toronto's mayor smoking crack is being shopped around by a group of Somali men involved in the drug trade. … This photo shows Toronto Mayor Rob Ford with a man who, according to a source, is fatal gunshot victim Anthony Smith.

BREAKING: The Scandals are Falling Apart!  —  So says Ezra Klein, who may turn out to be one of the stupidest people ever to be given column inches in a printed medium of any variety.  —  After reading Klein's desperate attempt to map onto reality his own desires, written in the form …

Under-Rehearsed Flash Mob  —  So a day after reports that it was stalemated, the House “Gang of Eight” working on immigration reform legislation announced an agreement today—or rather announced an agreement had been reached, since no details were released.  It seems, according to various sources …

Stevens: Rationale for Bush v. Gore was “unacceptable”  —  The former Supreme Court justice speaks out on John Roberts and the case that decided the 2000 election  —  Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said Thursday night that he's come to the realization that the rationale behind …

Three life rules from Donald Rumsfeld  —  To view this content, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed.  — Subscribe to podcast - Download audio - Embed player - Audio player assistance - Pop-Up  —  Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld published his memoir, “Known and Unknown” in 2011.

Americans' Attention to IRS, Benghazi Stories Below Average  —  Most Americans, however, say both deserve continuing investigation  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Slim majorities of Americans are very or somewhat closely following the situations involving the Internal Revenue Service (54%) …

Rewriting History: GOP Senator Pretends He Voted For Expanded Background Checks  —  On his Facebook page Friday, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) denied he ever voted against strengthened background checks amid blacklash over his opposition to the bipartisan Manchey-Toomey background checks amendment.