Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Nostalgia for Barack Obama sweeps Democratic National Convention
Joseph R. Biden is supposed to be the new leader of the Democratic Party. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the future star. Sen. Bernard Sanders is the ideological warrior. Published August 18, 2020
Donald Trump border wall nears 300-mile mark
President Trump's border wall construction will reach 300 miles at the end of this week, a top Army Corps of Engineers official said on Tuesday as he gave Mr. Trump a tour of the border region in Arizona. Published August 18, 2020
DHS says top officials legally appointed, calls GAO report part of ‘partisan impeachment effort’
Homeland Security lashed out Monday against Congress's top watchdog agency, demanding the Government Accountability Office rescind its report last week finding that the department's top two officials are holding their jobs illegally. Published August 17, 2020
Campaigns slow to rally Latino voters
Most Latinos say they have yet to hear from the presidential campaigns, according to new polling released Monday that the sponsors said could signal less engagement in this year's election. Published August 17, 2020
Rioters snared by own Facebook videos, grandma’s review
The Black Lives Matter revolution is, it turns out, being televised -- and livestreamed, tweeted and otherwise shared online. Now police are digging through the data and having stunning success in tracking down perpetrators months after the mayhem. Published August 16, 2020
Trump illegally installed top DHS officials: Government watchdog
Leading Democrats called on the top two officials at Homeland Security to step down after Congress's watchdog ruled they were both illegally installed in their jobs, and called into question all the weighty decisions the two men have made in the months since they took office. Published August 14, 2020
Kamala Harris had ‘zero effect’ as senator
Democrats celebrating Sen. Kamala D. Harris' pick as their party's vice presidential nominee cited her groundbreaking ancestry, her personal story and her work as a district attorney and later California attorney general. Published August 13, 2020
Trump can accept nomination from White House, watchdog rules
President Trump can accept the Republican presidential nomination from the White House, according to a ruling by the Office of Special Counsel, the independent federal agency that polices the intersection between government and politics. Published August 13, 2020
Oregon protesters try to block ICE arrests of ‘criminal’ migrants
Protesters in Oregon blocked two ICE buses that were holding undocumented immigrants, and at one point tried to break in to free them, forcing federal agents to mount a rescue mission Wednesday night. Published August 13, 2020
Feds paid Social Security to woman who died in 1971
The Social Security Administration was still paying benefits this year to a woman who died nearly 50 years ago, and her nephew had been cashing the checks -- collecting a staggering $459,000 over the years, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Published August 12, 2020
Kamala Harris compared ICE officers to KKK
Sen. Kamala D. Harris, Democrats' new presumptive vice presidential nominee, once compared ICE to the Ku Klux Klan, telling the agency's chief there was a "perception" that his personnel were using "fear and intimidation" in the same way the KKK did. Published August 11, 2020
Carlos Victor Passapera Pinott, Border Patrol agent, arrested on drug smuggling charges in Arizona
Federal prosecutors charged a Border Patrol agent Monday with drug smuggling after they tracked him making a run from the border in to Phoenix and dropping off packages that agents later found to be filled with cocaine, heroin and fentanyl. Published August 10, 2020
Border Patrol finds drugs dropped by ultralight aircraft
Border Patrol agents said Monday that they found more than $300,000 in methamphetamine that had just been dropped by an ultralight aircraft that sneaked over the border in southern California. Published August 10, 2020
Federal budget deficit slows as IRS sees record tax receipts
Uncle Sam set a new monthly record for income in July with $563 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said Monday, as taxpayers finally paid up after the IRS delayed the normal April filing deadline because of the coronavirus. Published August 10, 2020
Ted Wheeler suddenly sets police on Portland protesters
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler suddenly sounds like he is channeling a Trump administration official. Published August 9, 2020
Donald Trump: Portland protesters are ‘really sick, disturbed people’
President Trump and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler finally found something to agree on -- protesters have gotten out of hand, and are now guilty of attempted murder. Published August 7, 2020
Portland protesters attack women who tried to put out their fires
As Portland's riots spiraled out of control yet again Thursday night, a striking new battleground is developing between protesters who are lighting fires and residents who try to put them out. Published August 7, 2020
Portland mayor unleashes police on violent demonstrations
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who for weeks had blamed President Trump for fueling riots in his Oregon city, on Thursday acknowledged that the violence has continued even after the federal presence was curtailed, and told peaceful protesters to stay home. Published August 6, 2020
Court says Pelosi’s proxy-voting plan can continue
Judge Rudolph Contreras, an Obama appointee, said the Constitution's Speech and Debate clause gives Capitol Hill wide latitude to decide how to operate, and "activities integral to the legislative process may not be examined" by the courts. Published August 6, 2020
Illegal immigrants spread coronavirus in U.S., around world
The administration's top border official said Thursday that illegal immigrants have a duty to the world to stop coming to the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying some of them are making the trip knowing they have the disease and risk spreading it far and wide. Published August 6, 2020
