A rare peek into a Justice Department leak probe  —  When the Justice Department began investigating possible leaks of classified information about North Korea in 2009, investigators did more than obtain telephone records of a working journalist suspected of receiving the secret material.

Obama's Counsel Told of IRS Audit Findings Weeks Ago  —  The White House's chief lawyer learned weeks ago that an audit of the Internal Revenue Service likely would show that agency employees inappropriately targeted conservative groups, a senior White House official said Sunday.

UPDATED: Virginia GOP Nominee For Attorney General Introduced Bill Forcing Women To Report Their Miscarriages To Police  —  If a woman in Virginia has a miscarriage without a doctor present, they must report it within 24 hours to the police or risk going to jail for a full year.

A bushel of Pinocchios for IRS's Lois Lerner  —  In the days since the Internal Revenue Service first disclosed that it had targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, new information has emerged from both the Treasury Inspector General's report and congressional testimony Friday …

Three Signs There's a Cover-Up  —  The late columnist William Safire once said that a good clue that someone in Washington was engaged in “an artful dodge,” i.e., a cover-up, was that they used the phrase “mistakes were made.”  Safire defined it as a “passive-evasive way of acknowledging error …

True Scandal  —  Catherine Engelbrecht's tale has all the markings of a classic conspiracy theory: She says she thinks that because of her peaceful political activity, she and her family was targeted for scrutiny by hostile federal agencies.  —  Yet as news emerges that the Internal Revenue Service wielded …

On Yahoo-Tumblr  —  It now looks pretty certain that Yahoo has pulled off a deal to buy Tumblr for 1.1B.  The relationship between WordPress and Tumblr has always been pretty friendly: Tumblr's own blog used to be on WP, WordPress.com supports Tumblr as a Publicize option alongside Twitter and Facebook …

News!  —  Everyone, I'm elated to tell you that Tumblr will be joining Yahoo.  —  Before touching on how awesome this is, let me try to allay any concerns: We're not turning purple.  Our headquarters isn't moving.  Our team isn't changing.  Our roadmap isn't changing.

Four key Hillary Clinton staffers from 2008 unlikely to sign on for 2016 bid  —  Howard Wolfson, the 2008 communications director for Hillary Rodham Clinton, has said he will not return for a 2016 presidential campaign.  Neither, for that matter, will Neera Tanden, the campaign's policy director.

The Good News About Race and Voting  —  Election polling data show that few Americans of any race report any problems casting a ballot.  —  In the next several weeks the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the requirement that several states, mostly in the South …

Remarks by the President at Morehouse College Commencement Ceremony  —  Century Campus Morehouse College  —  THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Morehouse!  (Applause.)  Thank you, everybody.  Please be seated.  —  AUDIENCE MEMBER: I love you!  —  THE PRESIDENT: I love you back.  (Laughter.)

Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul Push For Hemp Legalization In Senate Fight  —  WASHINGTON — Kentucky's two senators, Republicans Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, have been working to include a provision that would legalize industrial hemp into the farm bill, according to Senate and Kentucky sources …

How Obama Handles Crisis  —  The handwringers and bed wetters in the D.C. punditocracy should know that Barack Obama will never be on their timeline, says his longtime speechwriter Jon Favreau.  —  Honestly, they act like it's his first crisis.  —  Sometime after the infamous Denver debate last fall …

Climate slowdown means extreme rates of warming ‘not as likely’  —  The impacts of rising temperature are being felt particularly keenly in the polar regions  —  Scientists say the recent downturn in the rate of global warming will lead to lower temperature rises in the short-term.

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