Three major controversies threatening the White House - and the response from the Obama administration:
Obama: "I can assure you that I certainly did not know anything about the IG report before the IG report had been leaked through press."
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney: "I would ask the CIA"
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder: I was not the person who was involved in that decision.
So where exactly does the buck stop?
Who knew that the IRS was targeting conservative groups seeking tax exempt status?
Who is really responsible for revising the talking points on Benghazi that led the public to believe something that turned out not to be true? And why did the Department of Justice secretly obtain Associated Press phone records?
OutFront tonight: Jennifer Palmieri, White House Director of Communications.
The White House making two major announcements Wednesday night.
First, it released more than 100 pages of emails detailing the back and forth between the CIA, the State Department and the White House showing how the so-called 'talking points' about the attack on a U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi changed over time. That, of course, came after intense pressure from Republicans.
Then a short time later – President Obama made a terse statement about the IRS giving extra scrutiny to conservative groups and announced the acting commissioner has resigned.
Big question tonight - will any of this quiet the critics?
OutFront tonight: CNN Contributor Reihan Salam and Radio Show host Stephanie Miller.
After intense pressure the White House has just released more than 100 pages of emails that detail the back and forth between the CIA, the State Department, and the White House as they discussed the controversial talking points surrounding the attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi.
First on CNN: White House releases 100 pages of Benghazi e-mails
Outfront tonight: Representative Peter King of New York is on the House Intelligence Committee and has been one of the most outspoken, demanding transparency on the issue.
How the administration handled the aftermath of the deadly attacks on the U.S. consulate in Libya is dominating the headlines and Beltway politics.
At Tuesday’s White House press briefing a reporter asked, "President Obama is being compared to President Nixon . How does he feel about that?
"I can tell you that people who make those comparisons need to check their history because what we have here with one issue Benghazi is so clearly, as we are learning more and more a political sideshow, a deliberate effort to politicize a tragedy," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.
Erin Burnett asks - is it a political side-show or a Obama administration cover-up?
Outfront tonight: Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of California.
The President's press secretary, under fire over the September 11th Benghazi attack. The pre-scheduled press briefing was delayed twice. Carney finally arrived at the podium three hours later than first planned.
There was tension in the room when White House Press Secretary Jay Carney walked in.
Why? Because a lot was at stake.
Today, we formally learned the White House and the State Department were heavily involved in the editing of the talking points used by the administration following the terror attacks in Benghazi – something they have previously denied.
Obama administration e-mails raise new questions on Benghazi
In fact, today Carney doubled down, saying the White House made one edit, and one edit only: changing the word consulate, to the word diplomatic post.
There were twelve rounds of edits. Among the things taken out of the first draft - a line saying: "Islamic extremists with ties to al-Qaeda participated in the attack."
OutFront tonight: Nick Burns is a former under-secretary of state for political affairs and Reihan Salam, CNN Contributor, writer for the National Review.
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