Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Judge rules Texas can vote by mail during coronavirus
A Texas judge said Wednesday that all state voters can cast ballots by mail because of coronavirus, siding with Democrats and rejecting the state's GOP leadership. Published April 15, 2020
Trump has the pulpit; governors wield the power
Americans have been getting a serious civics lesson over the past month as they turn to Washington for answers to the coronavirus crisis -- only to find out their state governors have far more control over what goes on in their daily lives. Published April 14, 2020
Feds ask released migrants for coronavirus to report for re-arrest
The federal government has asked more than a dozen migrants a judge ordered released from detention last week to re-report and be detained by ICE, saying an appeals court has since put the lower court's decision on hold. Published April 13, 2020
Federal deficit to hit record $3.8 trillion: Watchdog
The federal government will run a deficit of at least $3.8 trillion this year, likely quadrupling in just one year, a watchdog calculated Monday, as Uncle Sam opens up the checkbook to try to ease the burden of the coronavirus pandemic. Published April 13, 2020
Millions of mail-in ballots went missing in 2018: Report
More than a million mail-in ballots were sent to the wrong addresses by elections officials in 2018, according to a new analysis Monday that challenged state and local officials' rush to embrace mail-in voting amid the coronavirus crisis. Published April 13, 2020
Courts speed illegal immigrants release due to coronavirus fears
Across the country, immigrants in detention are rushing to federal courts to demand that judges release them, and by and large they're winning their cases. Published April 12, 2020
Feds charge Mexican man with smuggling drugs through border tunnel
Federal agents nabbed a Mexican man just before he was to fly back home this week, and charged him with smuggling drugs through a 2,000-foot cross-border tunnel discovered last month running between Tijuana and San Diego. Published April 10, 2020
Feds OK drive-through gun sales amid coronavirus crisis
Licensed gun stores can do drive-thru sales of firearms or sell them out of their parking lots, the Trump administration said Friday in new guidance designed to facilitate purchases without forcing buyers to enter confined establishments during the coronavirus pandemic. Published April 10, 2020
FBI used Russian disinformation to launch investigation into Donald Trump: Audit
The Steele Dossier -- key evidence the FBI used to justify spying on a Trump campaign figure in 2016 -- was based in part on Russian disinformation, two top senators revealed, citing newly declassified footnotes from an inspector general's report. Published April 10, 2020
Nancy Pelosi demands probe of Border Patrol treatment of pregnant illegal immigrant
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday demanded an investigation into Homeland Security's treatment of pregnant illegal immigrants after the ACLU filed a complaint claiming one woman was left to deliver her baby while standing up in a border detention facility. Published April 9, 2020
DHS slashes border crossings amid coronavirus, credits Trump with reducing threat
President Trump's get-tough immigration policies last year left the U.S. better ready to face the COVID-19 pandemic, the country's border chief said Thursday, saying they derailed hundreds of thousands of migrants from entering the country illegally this year, any of whom could have been an entry point for the virus. Published April 9, 2020
Charles Grassley scolds Donald Trump over Michael Atkinson ouster
The senior Republican in the Senate led a bipartisan group Wednesday scolding President Trump for his ouster of the intelligence community's inspector general, calling it a worrying attack on a key watchdog, and perhaps even a violation of the law. Published April 8, 2020
Peter Lucas charge in theft of masks from Veterans Affairs clinic in Nevada
A man was busted this week after authorities said they caught him stealing 200 surgical masks from his supply cart at a Veterans Affairs clinic in Nevada that was already struggling to get enough masks. Published April 8, 2020
Immigrants in coronavirus pandemic essential to economy
Coronavirus is the ultimate proving ground for illegal immigrants, they believe -- a chance to show they are as American as anyone else, sharing the same experiences and just as, if not more, integral to the economy. Published April 8, 2020
DHS to hold up export of N95 masks, other medical equipment
Homeland Security said Wednesday it will begin halting export shipments of N95 respirators, surgical masks, gloves and other key medical equipment that would otherwise have gone to other countries. Published April 8, 2020
Disaster movies, pandemic books surge as coronavirus infects pop culture
The coronavirus crisis has created a bit of a cult following for Dorsey Armstrong, a professor of medieval literature at Purdue University, who four years ago recorded a Great Courses lecture series on the Black Death. Published April 7, 2020
Appeals court sides with Trump administration on death penalty protocol
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the government can carry out executions under its new lethal injection protocols, erasing a lower court's injunction and clearing one of the roadblocks to restarting the federal death penalty. Published April 7, 2020
Immigrant health care workers sidelined amid coronavirus: Study
America's strict medical licensing regime has left hundreds of thousands of health workers on the sidelines -- immigrants who earned degrees in the field overseas but have been shut out of the business because they haven't been able to transfer their credentials to the U.S., according to a new study Tuesday. Published April 7, 2020
Justice Department researchers: Mass shootings ‘elusive as they are disruptive’
Justice Department researchers said Monday that before the country can get a handle on mass shootings, it needs to come up with uniform definitions and a better set of data. Published April 6, 2020
Illegal immigration down 60% at border amid coronavirus
Illegal immigration is down nearly 60% at the southern border amid the coronavirus crisis, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday. Published April 6, 2020
