[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Cantor just needs to learn to say, “I don’t accept the underlying premise of your question,” and then re-state the issue in an acceeptable way. I realize he may face a fight, but it’s better than giving in. These journalists are not the brightest bulbs on the tree. Asking, “When did you stop beating your wife” questions is just their lazy way of leading a better-intentioned guest into a trap.

That right there is ultimately the problem here - Cantor wasn't thinking on his feet enough to dodge or refute an obviously slanted question.

[Belle22]

In a lighter vein, Ann Coulter did this well when sparring with Joy Behar recently. Ann knew she was dealing with a hostile airhead, so Ann just played with Joy by challenging the premise of Joy’s argumentative questions.

BEHAR: So you would like him to continue torturing people, is that what you’re telling me?

COULTER: We don’t torture people, Joy. (LAUGHTER)

BEHAR: We don’t? That’s not what I heard.

COULTER: No. Though, if they’re really bad — no.

BEHAR: If they’re really bad, we torture them.

COULTER: I was going to say, they start showing them old “Views.”

BEHAR: “The View.” Oh, yes, you’ve been on the show.

That — did you feel we ganged up on you last time?

COULTER: No...

BEHAR: Or somewhat?

COULTER: It was a lot of fun. It was like the sisterhood of the traveling pants. ....

BEHAR: So what do you care if we ganged up on you?

COULTER: I didn’t say you ganged up on me. You did.

BEHAR: Well, you sort of acted like we did.

COULTER: No, I said it was a Joyful occasion.

For the Congressmen, some pre-deposition run-throughs with a trained litigator might help them answer, as they must, in an acceptable way. Cantor, et al. do need to accept that these journalists are the enemy, not just fellow-travelers of the Beltway who’ve invited them to a cocktail party.