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Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang

Ben Wolfgang is a National Security Correspondent for The Washington Times. His reporting is regularly featured in the daily Threat Status newsletter.

Previously, he covered energy and the environment, Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016, and also spent two years as a White House correspondent during the Obama administration.

Before coming to The Times in 2011, Ben worked as political reporter at The Republican-Herald in Pottsville, Pa.

He can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Ben Wolfgang

U.S. Army Air Corps Maj. Gen. James H. "Jimmy" Doolittle fastens a medal on the tail of a 500-pound bomb that his raiders dropped on Tokyo on April 18, 1942. Eighty men in 16 planes surprised the Japanese and shattered their sense of being impregnable. (Associated Press)

Obama signs resolution honoring Doolittle Raiders

President Obama on Friday honored the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders, 80 airmen who made history in April 1942 by striking back against Imperial Japan only a few months after the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Published May 23, 2014

** FILE ** President Barack participates in a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia at the Esperanza Resort in San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico, June 18, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Putin blasts Obama: ‘Who is he to judge?’

If President Obama wants to make accusations against Russia, he should go get a job as a courtroom lawyer, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday. Published May 23, 2014

President Obama looks at Jackie Robinson's Brooklyn Dodgers memorabilia during a tour of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Mr. Obama visited the museum to highlight tourism and to help spur international visits to the 50 states. (Associated Press)

Obama pitches tourism at Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

With the growing veterans health care crisis swirling around him, President Obama on Thursday left Washington for Cooperstown, New York, where he toured the Baseball Hall of Fame and made a pitch for international tourists to come to the United States. Published May 22, 2014

President Barack Obama throws out the first pitch to St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols, not pictured, before the MLB All-Star baseball game in St. Louis, Tuesday, July 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

Obama: Michelle got rid of my ‘mom jeans’

The president said Thursday that his wife, first lady Michelle Obama, "retired" the widely maligned jeans he wore when throwing out the first pitch of the 2009 MLB All Star Game. Published May 22, 2014

President Barack Obama speaks in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 21, 2014, following his meeting with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. The White House moved Wednesday to address the growing furor over allegations of misconduct at the Department of Veterans Affairs, summoning VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to an Oval Office meeting, hours before the House was scheduled to vote on a bill that would grant the secretary more authority to fire or demote senior executives.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Obama on VA allegations: ‘It is disgraceful, and I will not tolerate it’

As he struggles to contain the political damage from the widening VA scandal, President Obama met with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki on Wednesday and emerged to say he's pushing for quick, decisive action — but critics say it's another example of his employing strong rhetoric without actually firing anyone. Published May 21, 2014

President Barack Obama listens to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, as soldiers who are part of the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride, race past, Wednesday, April 17, 2013, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, during an event honoring the seventh annual Soldier Ride. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Obama to meet Eric Shinseki over secretary’s handling of VA

President Obama will speak Wednesday morning immediately after meeting with embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, as outrage and criticism mounts from both parties over the White House response to the expanding scandal of mismanagement at VA hospitals. Published May 21, 2014

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney listens during his daily news briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

White House sends mixed signals on when Obama learned of VA problems

With criticism and anger mounting on both sides of the aisle, the White House on Tuesday struggled to explain exactly when President Obama learned of lengthy wait times and false reporting at Veterans Affairs health care facilities but defended its larger effort to improve care for the nation's veterans. Published May 20, 2014

FILE - This Nov. 4, 2013 file photo shows President Barack Obama speaks at an Organizing for Action event in Washington. Organizing for Action, the nonprofit group supporting President Barack Obama’s agenda, is scaling back its fundraising efforts and cutting its paid staff in half as focus shifts to the looming midterm elections, three Democratic officials said. Formed last year from the remnants of Obama’s vaunted re-election campaign, OFA raised more than $30 million in its first 15 months as it worked across the U.S. to build support for Obama priorities like health care, immigration and climate change. But the group’s aggressive courting of big-dollar donors has vexed many Democrats who worry the group is siphoning sorely needed dollars from Democratic campaigns just as the party is bracing for a difficult midterm election.  (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

At party fundraiser, Obama shrugs off Benghazi, health-care woes

President Obama told Democratic donors Monday night that Congress is wasting time investigating the Benghazi affair and focusing on the troubles with his health-care reform law instead of tackling important issues such as immigration reform and a minimum-wage hike. Published May 19, 2014

President Barack Obama greets players during an unannounced stop to surprise members of the Northwest little league baseball teams at Friendship park in Washington, Monday, May 19, 2014. Obama stopped to meet with the players before heading off to a private Democratic fundraiser. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Obama drops by D.C. Little League games

On his way to a Democratic party fundraiser on Monday night, President Obama stopped at Washington's Friendship Park and tossed a baseball with Little Leaguers warming up for their evening games. Published May 19, 2014

A gunman aims his weapon in the hatch of a car at a local administration building preparing to patrol in Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine, Monday, May 19, 2014, with a huge Donetsk People's Republic flag in the background. Heavy mortar fire outside the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk has damaged a large gas pipeline and set off a fire. Slovyansk has been the epicenter of fighting between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian insurgents, who have seized government buildings across the east.  (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

White House: No sign Russian troops pulling back

The White House on Monday disputed Vladimir Putin's latest claim that Russian forces have begun to withdraw from the Ukrainian border, again calling into question whether the Russian president truly wants to de-escalate the situation or desires continued unrest ahead of Ukrainian elections on May 25. Published May 19, 2014

FILE - This May 12, 2014 file photo speaks President Barack Obama speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama on Friday marked the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation decision by recommitting to "the long struggle to stamp out bigotry and racism in all their forms." Obama also scheduled a meeting Friday with families of the plaintiffs as well as the lead attorneys and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Obama will host the group, including lawyers Jack Greenberg and William Coleman, in the White House East Room. Greenberg argued the case; Coleman was a leading legal strategist.  (AP Photo, File)

Obama marks 60th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education

President Obama on Friday commemorated the 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court's Brown vs. Board of Education decision, a landmark ruling that signaled the end of separate public schools for white and black students. Published May 16, 2014

Teddy Bridgewater went on to lead Louisville to one of the biggest upset in BCS bowl history after taking a brutal hit in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2. The NCAA scarcely mentions concussions in its manual. (Associated Press)

White House plans sports concussion summit

The Obama administration will invite athletes, coaches, parents and other stakeholders to the White House on May 29 for a summit on sports-related concussions. Published May 16, 2014