Producers with ABC News' investigative unit are currently on assignment in Denver, looking in the role that big money donors play at the Democratic convention.

Today, one of those producers, Asa Eslocker, was arrested outside the swank Brown Palace Hotel, where Democratic senators were meeting with donors at a private party.

According to ABC News, Mr. Eslocker is being charged with "tresspass, interference, and failure to follow a lawful order."

More from ABC News' report of the incident:

Eslocker was put in handcuffs and loaded in the back of a police van which headed for a nearby police station.

 read more »

After months of sitting on the sideline, the mainstream media let loose over the past three days with coverage of former Senator John Edwards' admission that he had had an affair with filmmaker Rielle Hunter.

Some highlights from the coverage:

On ABC's web site, "The Blotter," Brian Ross and company posted a story today entitled "Is John Edwards Still Lying," which includes an exclusive interview with a friend of Ms. Hunter's named (apparently) Pidgeon, who suggests that he is, in fact, still lying.

In Broadcasting & Cable, Marisa Guthrie writes that according to multiple sources "Edwards was apoplectic that ABC News broke the story on its website and began promoting it early on Friday, giving the rest of the media a chance to play catch-up and cite ABC News' report.  read more »

Well, that didn't take long.

Earlier today, we reported that ABC News' chief investigative reporter Brian Ross was working on a story about John Edwards' alleged affair with filmmaker Rielle Hunter.

Now, you can strike "alleged" from the record.

Mr. Ross and producer Rhonda Schwartz just posted an article on ABC's "The Blotter," under the blockbuster headline, "Edwards Admits Sexual Affair; Lied as Presidential Candidate."

According to the post, Mr. Edwards made the admission in an interview with ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff, which will air tonight on Nightline. At the same time, Mr. Edwards denied to ABC that he was the father of Ms.  read more »

The Media Mob has learned that Brian Ross, chief investigative correspondent for ABC News, currently has his team of reporters looking into a story that few of his colleagues at major news organizations have been willing to investigate—namely, the so-called "love child" scandal, involving former U.S. Senator John Edwards.

For weeks, members of the media meta-sphere have been debating about whether the MSM should follow up on the numerous stories in The National Enquirer, alleging that Mr. Edwards has fathered an out-of-wedlock child with filmmaker Rielle Hunter.

"I think the mainstream media is right to be cautious with this story," Brent Cunningham, managing editor of The Columbia Journalism Review, recently  read more »

It's August, and George Stephanopolous is apparently on vacation.

So, who'll fill in for Mr. Stephanopolous on his upcoming public affairs program on Sunday Morning?

Jake Tapper, of course.

Mr. Tapper broke the news this afternoon on his ABC political blog Political Punch.

"We have some great guests," wrote Mr. Tapper. "I can't think of two pols with whom I'd rather talk about energy and politics than Louisiana's GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal and New Mexico's Gov. Bill Richardson. We also have a great roundtable including George F. Will, Cokie Roberts, Torie Clarke, and Matt Bai, who has an interesting cover story about race and politics in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine...So be gentle with your post-show criticisms and hope you tune in!"

Tonight on ABC's Nightline, Ben Affleck will report an "essay" on his recent fact-finding mission concerning the humanitarian crisis in the Congo.

"It's fairly clear that in the modern age that there is a currency to celebrity, or celebrity is a currency, really," Mr. Affleck told David Bauder of The Associated Press. "I've discovered that you can spend it in a lot of ways, or you can squander it. You can be taxed, as well. I really started thinking long and hard about how to use that currency as long as I had it."

In 2000, ABC News tapped Leonardo DiCaprio to interview then President Bill Clinton about the environment.

Terry McCarthy of ABC News recently told the Observer that as the level of violence in Iraq has dropped off in recent months, correspondents in Baghdad have had more time to work on feature stories about the state of the country—rather than, say, report on the latest suicide bombing.

Last night, Mr. McCarthy reported one such "believe it or not" feature for World News with Charlie Gibson. The story was about booming housing prices in Baghdad.  read more »

Jamie Tarabay, the former Baghdad Bureau Chief for NPR, was stationed in Iraq in the early months of 2007 when General David Petraeus arrived to take over command of the U.S. forces there.

In the weeks and months to come, like many of her professional colleagues in the war zone, she eventually accompanied Mr. Petraeus on a number of walk-along interviews as he strolled through the streets of the occupied city.  read more »

Martin Bashir, the co-anchor of ABC News' Nightline has been diagnosed with a brain tumor growing on his pituitary gland.

Doctors discovered the tumor recently after Mr. Bashir injured his head on the set of Nightline and was taken to the hospital for stitches.  read more »

Andrew Rice emails his take on (part of) last night’s debate:

Due to unavoidable conflicts--it was my night to cook dinner, and I had to run to the grocery store--I missed the first 40 minutes of the debate last night. I came away thinking that it was actually a very sober, issues-driven affair.  read more »

]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/one-mccain-oppo-file#comments Politics ABC News Andrew Rice Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:34:38 -0400 Steve Kornacki 67987 at http://www.observer.com