Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
More fraud in Diversity Visa Lottery as feds move to strip citizenship from four Somalis
The Justice Department moved Monday to strip citizenship from four Somali immigrants who prosecutors say lied about being a family, defrauding the Diversity Visa Lottery program that Republicans are aiming to nix. Published November 6, 2017
Democrats say ‘Paradise Papers’ leak should derail GOP’s tax overhaul
Top Democrats said Monday that the so-called "Paradise Papers" -- a leak of documents exposing the use of offshore tax havens by major world figures -- should derail the GOP's push for a tax overhaul. Published November 6, 2017
Tax bill’s chained CPI sneaks in rate hikes
Buried amid the deductions and credits, House Republicans have made a major shift in tax policy that will mean an escalating tax increase on every American taxpayer over the ensuing decades. Published November 5, 2017
GOP congressman introduces resolution calling Mueller ‘compromised,’ demands he quit
A Republican congressman from Florida introduced a resolution Friday urging Special Counsel Robert Mueller to resign from the Russia probe, saying the one-time FBI director has his own conflicts of interest. Published November 3, 2017
GOP’s tax bill cancels $23 billion in credits claimed by illegal immigrants
The new GOP tax overhaul would strip illegal immigrants of the ability to claim several major tax credits, saving the government $23.1 billion over the next decade, according to the bill's authors. Published November 2, 2017
Lamar Smith, longtime GOP immigration leader, to retire
Rep. Lamar Smith, a senior Republican from Texas who was instrumental in writing the strict immigration crackdown of 1996, announced Thursday he will retire from Congress at the end of next year. Published November 2, 2017
GOP bill slashes tax break for NFL, other pro sports stadiums
The NFL would lose its ability to claim tax breaks for stadiums, colleges and universities would have to start paying taxes on massive endowments, and house "flippers" could no longer shield their income from the taxman under House Republicans' proposed tax bill, which takes aim at a number of quirks that have developed over the years. Published November 2, 2017
Democrats sue under arcane law to pry Trump hotel documents from admin.
House Democrats filed a federal lawsuit Thursday accusing the administration of illegally withholding documents governing the Trump International Hotel in D.C., as they try to press their claim that the hotel's operations violate the Constitution. Published November 2, 2017
Donald Trump vows to end Diversity Visa Lottery
President Trump and top congressional Republicans promised Wednesday to scrap the country's green-card lottery after it became clear that the suspect in this week's terrorist truck attack in New York City used the Diversity Visa Lottery to gain a foothold in the U.S. in 2010. Published November 1, 2017
Lindsey Graham says cutting Diversity Visa Lottery could be part of DACA fix
Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday that eliminating the Diversity Visa Lottery -- the method the suspect in the New York terrorist attack used to gain a foothold in the U.S. -- should be part of any bill to legalize illegal immigrant Dreamers. Published November 1, 2017
Lindsey Graham: Treat NYC suspect as ‘enemy combatant’
A top senator said Wednesday that the suspect in Tuesday's attack in New York should be held as an unlawful enemy combatant, denied Miranda rights and subject to interrogation to try to find out more about what motivated him and whether he is working with others. Published November 1, 2017
NYC suspect came to U.S. on Diversity Visa Lottery
The suspect in Tuesday's New York City terrorist attack is an immigrant who came to the U.S. through the Diversity Visa Lottery, a controversial program that since 1990 has doled out pathways to citizenship in the U.S. based literally on luck of the draw. Published November 1, 2017
Chuck Schumer says answer to terror attack is money, not Trump’s extreme vetting
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Wednesday that the solution to terrorist attacks like Tuesday's strike in New York is more money, rather than more restrictions on immigration. Published November 1, 2017
Richard Burr says media botched Russian-social media story
The Russian operatives who ran Facebook ads surrounding last year's election ran four times as many ads in Maryland -- a deep-blue state -- than they did on the critical swing state of Wisconsin, the chairman of the Senate intelligence committee said Wednesday. Published November 1, 2017
Russian ads targeted issues, not candidates, social media execs say
Russian-backed mischief-makers and disinformation accounts were a tiny fraction of the online conversation leading up to last year's presidential election, and most of their efforts sowed discord over hot-button issues such as immigration and guns rather than attacking specific candidates, top social media executives told Congress on Tuesday. Published October 31, 2017
Ed Gillespie attack ad showing truck attack pulled New York terror incident
An immigrant-rights group pulled down an ad depicting a truck stalking young minority children -- an attack ad agains the Republican in Virginia's governor's race -- after the New York vehicle attack Tuesday. Published October 31, 2017
Russian-backed social media accounts attacked Clinton before election, Trump afterward
The same Russian-backed operatives who tried to sow discord during the 2016 election and targeted Hillary Clinton then went on to attack President Trump once the election was over, top social media company executives told Congress on Tuesday. Published October 31, 2017
IRS fends off 4 million hacking attempts a day
The IRS fends off 4 million hacking attempts a day, Commissioner John Koskinen said Tuesday, saying the tax agency does a solid job of keeping intruders out of its databases, though hackers have managed to spoof some taxpayers and steal their information individually. Published October 31, 2017
Afghanistan security deteriorates as U.S. takes deeper role
Even as the U.S. takes a deeper role in Afghanistan the situation there is getting worse, with armed clashes at an all-time high, insurgents controlling more territory and civilian casualties from pro-government forces up 52 percent this year, an inspector general told Congress Tuesday. Published October 31, 2017
Robert Mueller indicts Paul Manafort, Richard Gates
The special counsel investigating Russian meddling in the presidential election last year dropped two bombshells Monday, announcing a guilty plea from a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser to lying to the FBI about contacts with Russian operatives, and unsealing charges of money laundering and tax evasion against two top Trump campaign figures. Published October 30, 2017
