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First Read Flash: Holder reaches out

Holder meetings begin.
File Photo: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department, on December 19, 2012 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images, File)
File Photo: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department, on December 19, 2012 in Washington, DC.

Holder meetings begin. Attorney General Eric Holder begins meetings with top news executives on Thursday "as part of an ongoing review of how federal authorities investigate reporters" in order "to quell concerns about the Justice Department investigations into journalists revealing sensitive government information," the Washington Post reports. The Associated Press and the New York Times have said they will not attend the meetings if they are off the record.

Comey in. President Obama "intends to nominate former Deputy Attorney General James Comey, 52, to succeed Robert Mueller as FBI director," NBC News reports. "Though Comey served under President George W. Bush, he has won praise from Democrats for his time at the Department of Justice, especially after details emerged of his dramatic effort to stop the reauthorization of a warrantless eavesdropping program in March 2004."

"How high up did it go?" Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) pressed for answers into the IRS scandal during at tea party town hall on Wednesday, saying the key question is who in the Obama administration knew of the scrutiny into conservative groups, the AP reports.  "The question is, `How high up did it go?'" said Chabot, "And what's going to be done about it?" But a national poll from Quinnipiac University out this morning shows that while 76 percent of voters said a special prosecutor should be appointed to investigate the charges, that the economy remains their most important concern, by a three to one margin.