Attorney General Eric Holder’s Department of Justice secretly obtained two months of phone records of Associated Press reporters–the latest in a long line of attacks on an open and free media coming from this Department of Justice (DOJ). “The Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records of reporters and editors for The Associated Press in what the news cooperative’s top executive called a ‘massive and unprecedented intrusion’ into how news organizations gather the news,” … Read entire article »

Politico reported on the IRS Inspector General report on the systematic targeting of grassroots conservative groups for extra scrutiny. And, ultimately, in its article Politico has done what it does best: Pretend to report on a story but ultimately give Democrats cover by declaring the story a non-story.  The opening sentence sets the tone for the whitewash:  The most hotly anticipated IRS probe since Watergate didn’t exactly live up to the hype. Knowing that politicians and journalists are generally … Read entire article »

In a tense exchange Wednesday afternoon between Major Garrett of CBS News and White House spokesman Jay Carney, the White House refused to offer a straight answer to Garrett’s repeated requests that the Administration release the full email chain surrounding the shaping of the CIA’s Benghazi talking points. Garrett asked Carney three times for an answer to a simple yes or no question. Each time Carney droned on and one with platitudes about how transparent … Read entire article »

The Benghazi cover-up is falling apart and the left is desperate. They will do anything to protect former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from any blame in the scandal. In this instance, Politico’s Roger Simon has fallen back on the tired sexism charge against Senator John McCain (R-AZ) for his comments about Clinton on ABC’s This Week:  “She had to have been in the loop some way, but we don’t know for sure,” McCain said. “What I do … Read entire article »

Barack Obama’s political Svengali, David Axelrod, appeared on Wednesday’s “Morning Joe” on MSNBC to respond to the latest revelations regarding the Obama Justice Department’s extensive investigation into Associated Press reporters, including secret wiretaps and collections of phone logs of the reporters and their sources.   When asked about the “chilling effect” on reporters and sources due to the signal sent by the intrusive investigation, Axelrod slipped right into talking point spin zone and actually blamed Scarborough and … Read entire article »

John Yoo, the former Bush administration lawyer (and frequent media target) notes at Ricochet.com that the media’s reaction to the revelation that the Obama administration spied on the Associated Press is not just a feeling of outrage, but of betrayal. Yoo goes further, arguing that the AP scandal might never have happened at all had the media not been so close to Obama to begin with–had he not taken them completely for granted. To some conservative … Read entire article »

Wednesday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” guest panelist Steve Rattner, a former New York Times reporter who believes the biggest scandal of the three currently facing the White House is Benghazi, asked David Axelrod what he believes the Administration should do to try and get out from under the scandal. Axelrod said, “I think they would benefit from getting all these emails out in public.” The emails Axelrod, an Obama confidante who now works for MSNBC, … Read entire article »

NBC News Senior Investigative Correspondent Lisa Myers appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to discuss the growing AP scandal involving the Dept. of Justice secretly obtaining phone records of reporters with the Associated Press.  Myers maintained that it was unlikely that the president knew about the wire tapping because “from a political standpoint,” it would anger “one of the president’s most important constituencies, the press.” Given that, said Myers, “it’s hard to imagine they would have green-lighted … Read entire article »

Why was U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice sent to appear on the Sunday talk shows on September 16, 2012 instead of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss the terrorist attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya?  After all, Clinton, not Rice, was Ambassador Christopher Stevens’ boss. According to the Politico, this question is now being asked of the Obama administration. Rice told NBC’s Brian Williams, “Secretary Clinton had originally been asked by most of the networks … Read entire article »

Matthew Winkler, Editor-In-Chief of Bloomberg News, admitted Sunday that his reporters had accessed proprietary trading information and used the information in their reporting. The admission was made in an article posted on the Bloomberg website titled “Holding Ourselves Accountable:” We are defined by our words — and they applied to us when a Bloomberg LP customer expressed concern that Bloomberg News reporters had access to limited client information. Our client is right. Our reporters should not have access to any … Read entire article »

There was a time when Carl Bernstein was celebrated for speaking truth to power and relentlessly pursuing a president even though the rest of his colleagues didn’t join him in following a political scandal that involved a second-rate break-in at the Watergate Hotel. Bernstein’s work in bringing down President Richard Nixon became an inspiration for journalists everywhere.  How disappointed are all those journalists who joined the profession because they wanted to be the next Bob Woodward or Carl … Read entire article »

It has been 8 months since the terrorist attacks on our facilities in Benghazi, Libya, attacks that ended up killing four Americans including our ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens. We haven’t had a concrete explanation about this incident and new State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki didn’t do anything to alleviate that state of affairs, as reporters peppered her with uncomfortable questions in her May 13 press briefing. One exchange during the briefing between Psaki and … Read entire article »

Late Sunday night Barbara Walters took to Twitter to announce that she is retiring “next summer.” She will make the formal announcement Monday morning on “The View.” Big news – and I want to tell you first: abcn.ws/19gEaKv. (Looking forward to one more great year!) — Barbara Walters (@BarbaraJWalters) May 13, 2013 On ABCNews.com, Walters provided an official statement praising her time on “The View.” “I am very happy with my decision and look forward to … Read entire article »

Monday morning, NBC’s “Today Show” engineered one of those warm “family” moments that producers hope will help rescue the declining morning show from its recent ratings fall. The warm fuzzies were everywhere as “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie announced on-the-air that she was officially engaged to her boyfriend of four years, Mike Feldman. Al Roker made jokes, Matt Lauer beamed like a proud poppa, the blushing bride-to-be flashed her ring… But what wasn’t revealed is just … Read entire article »

In a startling Facebook post published Monday night, KMOV news anchor Larry Connors claims that after he interviewed President Obama in April of 2012, “the IRS started hammering me.” Shortly after I did my April 2012 interview with President Obama, my wife, friends and some viewers suggested that I might need to watch out for the IRS.  I don’t accept “conspiracy theories”, but I do know that almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me.  At … Read entire article »

Days after the news broke of the September 11 anniversary terror attack on our consulate in Libya, Republicans and right-leaning media were screaming about how the Obama Administration mishandled security and was covering up the fact that it was a terror attack. The day after the news broke, Fox News and a few other outlets were already reporting that it was likely a terror attack. The Obama Administration, however, insisted for nearly two weeks that … Read entire article »

One of the more tense and interesting exchanges during Tuesday’s White House briefing occurred when NBC’s Chuck Todd exposed White House spokesman Jay Carney as not exactly being honest regarding a talking point involving a piece of legislation that might have protected the Associated Press from the Department of Justice seizing the phone records of 20 reporters. Throughout the briefing, Carney kept reminding reporters that as a United State senator, President Obama had been in … Read entire article »

On the “Open Channel” investigative reporting blog at NBCNews.com Dave Levinthal of The Center for Public Integrity gets to the real root of the problem surrounding the IRS scandal involving revelations that conservative groups suffered more intense scrutiny when qualifying for their non-profit status.  According to Levinthal, Citizens United is to blame.  The agency said this weekend that a heavy workload prompted bureaucrats to “centralize” the “influx of advocacy applications” and, in the name of efficiency, scrutinize groups that contained more common … Read entire article »

Earlier this week, the blogosphere lit up with the news that President Obama’s official weekly schedule did not include a visit to the devastated town of West, Texas, despite the fact that the President will be visiting the region this week. The initial schedule put out by the White House for the President included attending the opening of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and a fundraiser in Austin, coupled with an overnight stay, but no … Read entire article »

The Heritage Foundation and the Franklin Center presented conservative journalist, commentator, Fox News contributor and entrepreneur Michelle Malkin with the second annual Breitbart Award on Thursday for relentlessly pursuing the truth while empowering citizen journalists to do the same.  Heritage Foundation President, Sen. Jim DeMint, and Franklin Center President Jason Stverak honored Malkin with the award at the Krieble Dinner on Thursday at the Omni Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida. Andrew Breitbart was a new … Read entire article »