One of the oddest aspects of the IRS scandal was the way the story first came to light last Friday, when Lois Lerner, head of the IRS’ tax-exempt organizations division, apologized for inappropriate targeting of conservative groups. The apology, a major admission, was delivered in a decidedly low-profile place: in response to a question from an attendee at a panel during the American Bar Association tax section’s annual meeting in Washington D.C.

Attorney General Eric Holder on Tuesday announced that he had ordered a criminal investigation into the IRS scandal, in which the agency was found to have inappropriately screened and handled applications for tax-exempt status from conservative groups.

Tucked inside the the government report that found the IRS used inappropriate criteria to identify tax-exempt applications to review is a list of seven questions.

The fateful question came from a tax lawyer, in a room filled with dozens of them. It came at the end of a Friday morning panel, on the second day of the American Bar Association tax section’s big annual meeting at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Washington D.C. The moderator had announced that it would be the panel’s last question.

Several times in the past week, Bryce Reed posted on Facebook about how hard recent days have been.

One of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s ex-colleagues came to his defense in a letter to a judge made public Tuesday, calling the corrupt ex-congressman “the highlight of our karaoke nights” and asking that his “many contributions to America” be taken into account in his sentencing.

Ken Bennett, the Secretary of State of Arizona, receives a $70,000 annual salary. But he also, it turns out, receives $2,000 a month for his work as a board member of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, a for-profit company founded by a one of the key people behind the tea party group FreedomWorks.

Zombie target mannequins that look like President Barack Obama have appeared on two Discovery Channel reality shows in recent years.

Remember all those gun nullification bills that cropped up back in January? Last month, Kansas went ahead and passed one. Senate Bill 102, also known as the Second Amendment Protection Act, became effective in Kansas on April 25. And it has led to a high-level back and forth between Attorney General Eric Holder and Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R).