All articles from Peter Grier
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IRS scandal: Will House throw Lois Lerner in slammer?
Lois Lerner declined to testify at a House hearing on the IRS scandal, but not before making an opening statement asserting her innocence. Did that undermine her Fifth Amendment rights?
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Decoder Wire Michelle Obama vacation: Will critics slam this trip too?
Michelle Obama vacation plans this summer reportedly may include a lengthy stay with Sasha and Malia on tony Martha's Vineyard. That's in addition to accompanying her husband overseas.
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Obamas hosting Carole King: What's the special occasion?
When the Beatles got off the plane for the first time in the US, the first person they wanted to meet was Carole King. So, winning the Library of Congress's Gershwin Prize for Popular Song and a White House gig were events just waiting to happen.
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Decoder Wire IRS official Lois Lerner invokes Fifth Amendment. Why won't she talk? (+video)
Lawmakers have plenty of questions for Lois Lerner, the IRS official who ordered the targeting of conservative groups to stop, concerning her past statements. She said she did nothing wrong, but invoked her Fifth Amendment rights.
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Decoder Wire Why Rand Paul thinks Senate is 'bullying' Apple Inc. (+video)
Senators who convened a hearing Tuesday say Apple uses a 'scheme' to avoid paying its full share of US taxes. Sen. Rand Paul disagrees and called the hearing a 'theater of the absurd.'
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Decoder Wire Might Obama fire Attorney General Eric Holder?
Justice Department's pursuit of media leaks, which led to a subpoena of AP phone records, has GOP officials (and some Democrats) calling for the head of Attorney General Eric Holder. Here are three reasons Obama is not likely to oblige.
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Decoder Wire Ted Nugent's brother slaps Ted on gun background checks. Family feud?
Ted Nugent's brother Jeffrey, in an op-ed, argues that the NRA and Ted are wrong to fight expanded background checks for gun buyers. Ted, naturally, doesn't take that lying down, whips out ... a pen?
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Decoder Wire North Korea missile launches: Pyongyang toying with foes? (+video)
That's one explanation for Day 3 of provocation from North Korea, which again fired short-range missiles or rockets into the ocean. So far, the medium-range North Korea missiles that caused a flap in April are nowhere to be seen.
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Decoder Wire Bob Woodward compares Benghazi with Watergate. Is he right? (+video)
The similarities: line-by-line edits of what to tell the public, says Bob Woodward, the media's authority on all things Watergate. Regarding the White House Benghazi edits, they show pressure 'in the system not to tell the truth' about what happened, he said Friday.
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Decoder Wire Why Benghazi talking points make US government seem like Dunder Mifflin (+video)
Let's put aside for a moment who did what to the talking points on Benghazi last September and focus just on the editing process, which could have come from an episode of 'The Office,' it seems.
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Decoder Wire President Obama wants to 'go Bulworth'? What's that? (+video)
Hint: It's a reference to the 1998 political movie 'Bulworth,' from Warren Beatty. Here's why Obama would be well-advised to resist the urge to model his behavior after the title character.
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Decoder Wire Russia spy case: Was US diplomat set up? (+video)
From the ill-fitting wigs to wads of cash and a 'recruitment letter,' the whole affair seemed more like a spy scene from a Judd Apatow comedy than a brooding John le Carré novel.
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Decoder Wire Are IRS, Benghazi flaps affecting Obama's standing with US public? (+video)
Republicans might have good reason to believe that President Obama will be affected more by the IRS scandal than by new revelations about the terror attack in Benghazi, Libya.
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Decoder Wire IRS tea party scandal: How bad for Obama? (+video)
President Obama himself has slammed the reported IRS actions regarding tea party and other conservative groups. But inevitably, Republicans will attempt to link the White House to this activity.
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Team Obama edits to Benghazi talking points: the smoking gun?
The White House refused to concede on Friday that the administration's edits to a set of 'talking points' about deadly attacks on a US compound in Benghazi, Libya, were more than cosmetic. That is debatable.
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Decoder Wire Why does Prince Harry make Washington swoon? (+video)
Prince Harry, making a visit to the US, interrupted a congressional hearing without attending it. Even Michelle Obama sounded a tad breathless announcing his appearance at a White House Mother’s Day tea.
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Vox News Stephen Colbert stung by sister's loss to Mark Sanford. Will he seek revenge? (+video)
Stephen Colbert rarely breaks out of his on-screen persona, but a bit of honest, raw anger seemed to peek out when he addressed his sister's loss to Mark Sanford in a congressional race.
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Decoder Wire Benghazi whistleblower: Has diplomat Gregory Hicks suffered for speaking out? (+video)
Gregory Hicks told a House panel that superiors opposed his meeting with House investigators and his questioning of claims that the Benghazi attacks were 'spontaneous.' He was reassigned to a desk job.
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Decoder Wire Bill: Hillary 2016 speculation is a lame topic right now. Oh, really? (+video)
Bill on Hillary 2016: Conjecture over whether Mrs. Clinton will run for president next time is 'worst expenditure of our time.' That's what he told attendees at a fiscal summit, anyway. Who's he kidding?
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Decoder Wire Michelle Obama back on book tour. How successful are first lady authors?
Michelle Obama, like every other first lady author in the 20th and 21st centuries, sells books – lots of them. Every first lady since Lady Bird Johnson has written a White House memoir.
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