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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) sought to clarify comments he made in a testy exchange with a reporter on Wednesday, after conservatives pounced on what they portrayed as a serious government shutdown gaffe.

Associated Press reporter Matt Lee poked a little fun at Secretary Kerry's apparent infinite "focus" on major current events of the day during the State Department press briefing on Tuesday. Lee pointed out that, according to the State Department, Secretary Kerry is apparently "fully focused" on the tense situation in Egypt, the hostile Syrian regime, and Israel-Palestine peace talks. "How about the Arctic?" "Whales?" "Botswana?" State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf assured Lee that Secretary Kerry had broad interests "and is able to focus on a number of things at the same time." "He is an extraordinary man," Lee remarked. "You...

Sky News cameraman Mick Deane has been shot and killed in Egypt this morning. Mick had worked for Sky for 15 years, based in Washington and then Jerusalem. He was part of our team covering the violence in Cairo. The rest of the team are unhurt.

House Republicans, in a lengthy report on the Justice Department's leak investigations, formally accused Attorney General Eric Holder of misleading Congress with "deceptive" testimony that he knew nothing of the "potential prosecution" of the press. The 70-page report was released late Wednesday by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee. To coincide with the release, lawmakers also wrote a letter to President Obama calling for a "change in leadership" at the Justice Department. "The deceptive and misleading testimony of Attorney General Holder is unfortunately just the most recent example in a long list of scandals that have plagued the Department," House...

In an announcement on his Twitter account, CNN political director Mark Preston announced former Yahoo News Washington bureau chief David Chalian would be named the supervising producer for the reincarnation of CNN’s “Crossfire.”

White House spokesman Jay Carney told a Fox News reporter to "read the Federal Register" in response to whether the president had the authority to change parts of the Obamacare law: "The ability to postpone the deadline is clear," said Carney. "I invite you to read the Federal Register," he said. "I know that'd be a lot to ask." "You'll have to ask me?" the reporter said. "Yes," said Carney, smirking. "Exactly."

The writing-about-writing crowd is abuzz with discussion about the rather unusual death of Buzzfeed/RollingStone/Gawker writer Michael Hastings. Mr. Hastings, whose name is never mentioned in the press without the immediate mention that he was “the fearless journalist whose reporting brought down the career of General Stanley McChrystal”, died in a single-car accident in Los Angeles yesterday morning. This in and of itself is not unusual, but the circumstances of the crash and its aftermath won’t do anything to quiet the conspiracy theorists who are already claiming that the military-industrial complex found a way to cap the guy. The definitive video...

Los Angeles police said they have yet to determine the cause of a fiery solo-car crash in Hollywood that apparently killed award-winning journalist Michael Hastings. The death of the 33-year-old Hastings was announced by his employer, BuzzFeed, which said he died in a Los Angeles car accident. But the Los Angeles County coroner's office had yet to determine Wednesday whether a body recovered from a fiery car crash was that of Hastings. The body was “unrecognizable” and badly charred, police told the Los Angeles Times. The body is identified only as "John Doe 117.”

BBC News political editor Nick Robinson apologized last week for originally identifying the London stabbing as having a “Muslim appearance” based on quotes given to him by law enforcement. Appearing on the News at Six the day of the Woolwich attack, Robinson explained that his law enforcement sources told him the perpetrator was of “Muslim appearance” and had reportedly been shouting “Allahu Akbar,” the Arabic phrase for “God is great.” The report apparently generated controversy, especially within the United Kingdom’s Muslim community, who felt the comment represented an unfair “racist generalization.” Several days later, Robinson took to the BBC website...

Attorney General Eric Holder signed off on a controversial search warrant that identified Fox News reporter James Rosen as a “possible co-conspirator” in violations of the Espionage Act and authorized seizure of his private emails, a law enforcement official told NBC News on Thursday.

A Fox News correspondent was accused in a Justice Department affidavit of being a possible criminal "co-conspirator" for his alleged role in publishing sensitive security information -- in a leak case that takes the highly unusual step of claiming a journalist broke the law. According to court documents, the Justice Department obtained a portfolio of information about Fox News' James Rosen's conversations and visits to the State Department. This included a search warrant for his personal emails. The effort follows that by the department to secretly obtain two months of phone records from Associated Press journalists as part of a...

In a fiery exchange during Tuesday’s White House press briefing, one reporter pointedly asked Press Secretary Jay Carney how he could be “categorically certain” that no one from the White House was involved in the IRS targeting conservative groups.Carney stumbled when asked whether he was basing his claims on assumptions. “I can tell you that … I am not aware of anyone here knowing about it.”

While covering a May Day rally in Manhattan’s Union Square on Wednesday, NBC New York reporter Ida Siegal was cornered and asked if her network planned to show the communist imagery the protesters were displaying. Hilarity ensued when Siegal immediately became defensive, denying she had seen any communist imagery and asking of the “Hammer-and-Sickle” flags: “What do they represent?” “You guys are with channel 4 news,” the videographer noted while addressing Siegal and her production team. “Are you guys going to show any of the people with Hammer and Sickle flags?” “I haven’t seen any of those flags,” Siegal replied...

UPDATE (AP) — A hearing on whether a reporter should be ordered to testify about how she obtained confidential information in the Colorado theater shooting case is being continued until next week. New York-based Fox News reporter Jana Winter cited anonymous law enforcement officials in reporting that suspect James Holmes had sent a psychiatrist a notebook of drawings that foreshadowed the July 20 attack. Prosecutors and Holmes’ lawyers argued about the issue in court Monday, but the defense wants to again question a detective about whether he might have told someone else about the notebook, who may have then talked...

Fox News reporter ordered to return to court over refusal to reveal sources in Colo. shooting case 01 Apr 2013 The FoxNews.com reporter who broke the exclusive story about a notebook that Colorado shooter James Holmes sent to his psychiatrist, then refused to reveal her sources under threat of jail, was ordered to return to the Aurora courtroom April 10, in a case experts say has chilling ramifications for the First Amendment. Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour intends to question a detective for a second time about who leaked the notebook, and then could still put veteran reporter Jana...

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney during a press briefing on Monday snapped at NPR reporter Mara Liasson for asking whether entitlement reforms would be part of President Barack Obama’s official budget. “Mara, the way you phrase that question makes me think that you’re still working on a typewriter or something. It’s available online. The proposal is there,” a frustrated Carney replied. Liasson then reminded Carney that she was asking specifically if it would be in Obama’s budget. Carney refused to answer the question and said he would not “predict the budget.” “I would wait for the budget to come...

Pres. Barack Obama asks reporters for help solving the countries problems during his news conference on the Sequester (March 1, 2013).

At a morning press conference that set the standard for today's testy responses, Sen. John McCain was calling for a select committee to investigate failures in the Benghazi attack when he was asked by a reporter whether he thought Gen. David Petraeus' extramarital affair and resignation might have been a bigger national security threat than the Benghazi attack and its aftermath.His response, with great respect, of course:CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO “Well, I say with great respect, that’s one of the dumbest questions I’ve ever heard. Okay? There’s four dead Americans. Four dead Americans. Not a socialite. I’m answering...

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PARIS (AP) — A correspondent for France 24 TV was "savagely attacked" near Cairo's Tahrir Square after being seized by a crowd, the network said Saturday. It was the latest case of violence against women at the epicenter of Egypt's restive protests. The news channel said in a statement that Sonia Dridi was attacked around 10:30 p.m. Friday after a live broadcast on a protest at the square and was later rescued by a colleague and other witnesses. France 24 did not give further details about the attack, but it said its employees were safe and sound, though "extremely shocked,"...