A report released by the Justice Department's acting inspector general on Sept. 20 uncovered a treasure chest of "wasteful or extravagant spending" at law enforcement conferences during the past two administrations. But one item stood out above the others: muffins that were apparently costing the department $16 a pop.
Such an extravagant price tag for a simple baked good was, undoubtedly, the perfect symbol of bureaucratic largess, along the lines of the Pentagon’s $600 toilet seat. But it wasn't actually true. Three days after the study was release, Hilton Hotels (which hosted the conference at which the expenditure was made) clarified that the $16 charge was for a full continental breakfast plus tax. Instead of a detailed invoice, the hotel just listed the charge as "muffins."

Sen Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) had called for heads to "roll." Fox News' Bill O'Reilly had used the muffin anecdote to launch a screed against raising taxes: "Why should I or you work hard every day so some guy in a suit can have a $16 muffin?" Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said the "individuals responsible for allowing this flagrant abuse of taxpayer dollars" should be "fired immediately." The Obama administration promised further review.

Quick-trigger denunciations are nothing new to politics. Moreover, many other examples in the inspector general's report -- lunch at $76 per person, coffee at $8.24 a cup -- would support the argument that the department's legal conferences are highly wasteful. (Full disclosure: My wife works at the Justice Department.)But Muffingate still provides a telling illustration of how relatively minor revelations can be turned into blood-curdling controversies. It also shows how the political and media communities move much faster to trumpet an outrage-inducing story than to set the record straight.

From Sept. 20 through Sept. 28, there were 223 stories that mentioned either "$16 muffins," "$16 per muffin," "sixteen dollar muffin" or "16 dollar muffin," according to a LexisNexis search. Of those, 178 reported the issue critically or didn't even mention the Hilton hotel's response. Thirty-seven stories offered an explanation for the cost of the muffins or attempted to correct the record. Eight simply played off the issue without taking a side (such as figuring out how one would actually make a $16 muffin).