Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
FBI publishes notes on Hillary Clinton’s use of private email
Hillary Clinton didn't know how secret information got to be classified, she told the FBI in her interview earlier this summer, according to documents released Friday -- showing a striking lack of awareness for someone at the highest reaches of government. Published September 2, 2016
Hillary Clinton didn’t press countries to take back their criminal aliens
Jean Jacques was fresh out of prison for attempted murder in 2012, and immigration agents wanted to deport him back home to Haiti -- but the island nation's government refused to take him back, saying it couldn't be sure Jacques was who he claimed to be. Published September 1, 2016
Donald Trump still plans to build border wall; Mexico’s Pena Nieto vows not to pay for it
To some, it's the friendship fence. To others, including, most famously, Pope Francis, it's an unneeded and un-Christian symbol of division. Published August 31, 2016
Mexican president disputes Trump, says he told GOP nominee he won’t pay for wall
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said Wednesday evening that he kicked off his meeting with GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump by saying Mexico won't pay for the border wall -- directly contradicting Mr. Trump's claim hours earlier. Published August 31, 2016
Donald Trump dials back rhetoric: ‘Great respect’ for Mexicans
Donald Trump vowed to hold the line on illegal immigration Wednesday but toned down his harsher anti-Mexican jibes as he strode onto the world stage, making his first visit with a foreign head of state and winning concessions on free trade. Published August 31, 2016
Government paid out benefits to deceased Americans
The government paid out more than $1.7 million in benefits to Americans who'd died years ago, and who the feds' chief personnel office knew were dead — but forgot to tell the Social Security Administration. Published August 30, 2016
IRS doesn’t tell 1 million taxpayers that illegal immigrants stole their Social Security numbers
The IRS has discovered more than 1 million Americans whose Social Security numbers were stolen by illegal immigrants, but officials never bothered to tell the taxpayers themselves, the agency's inspector general said in a withering new report released Tuesday. Published August 30, 2016
Hillary Clinton to explain to court who ‘recommended’ secret email account
Hillary Clinton will get a chance to explain why she continued to use her secret home email account for government business in defiance of repeated security warnings from her underlings -- just some of the 25 questions she'll have to answer, in writing and under oath, to a federal court. Published August 30, 2016
Obama Supreme Court recess appointment thwarted by Senate pro forma sessions
Twice a week since mid-July, the Senate has been going through the motions of gaveling into session, reading a brief announcement setting the date for the next meeting and then shutting down the floor. Published August 29, 2016
DHS ponders end to private prisons for illegal immigrant detainees
The Homeland Security Department may stop using private jails to detain illegal immigrants, Secretary Jeh Johnson said Monday, taking his cue from the Justice Department, which announced earlier this month it was phasing out the use of private prisons. Published August 29, 2016
10,000th Syrian refugee arriving in the U.S.
The U.S. welcomed its 10,000th Syrian refugee Monday afternoon, achieving President Obama's goal with more than a month to spare in the fiscal year -- and there are some 30,000 more waiting in the wings and ready to be resettled if the administration can handle them. Published August 29, 2016
Veterans Affairs quietly bans the Confederate flag at cemeteries it runs
The Veterans Affairs Department quietly moved this month to ban flying of Confederate flags from fixed flagpoles at the cemeteries it runs, striking yet another blow against the controversial emblem. Published August 29, 2016
Wealthy immigrant investors on special path to U.S. under Obama program
President Obama plans to use parole authority to go around normal rules and try to admit thousands of entrepreneurs to the U.S., the administration announced Friday, once again testing the limits of executive power on immigration. Published August 26, 2016
IRS vows to finally stop targeting tea party groups
The IRS is still holding up three tea party groups' applications, Commissioner John Koskinen admitted in a letter to Congress last week -- but he insisted he agents are finally about to begin processing them. Published August 25, 2016
Clinton pummels Trump for ‘taking hate groups mainstream,’ ties GOPer to fringe ‘alt right’
Donald Trump's campaign has become a haven for racism and bigotry, allowing hate to become part of the political debate, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton charged Tuesday in a blistering speech intended to make her Republican opponent too poisonous for voters. Published August 25, 2016
Donald Trump’s backslide on immigration angers base, does no good with Hispanics
Donald Trump was supposed to deliver a major address on immigration Thursday, laying out a plan that would win over swing voters while reassuring his base that he is serious about enforcing the law. Published August 24, 2016
Harry Reid calls mother of Benghazi victim ‘crazy,’ then retracts it
Sen. Harry Reid, who led Democrats to a Senate majority and then back into the minority, triggered the nuclear option to change Senate rules and used a special budget tactic to get Obamacare passed, told a Nevada newspaper not to blame him for partisanship in Washington. Published August 24, 2016
Donald Trump open to ‘softening’ deportation stance
Donald Trump said Tuesday he's open to "softening" his stance on deporting illegal immigrants with deep ties to the U.S., adding still more confusion to where the GOP presidential nominee stands on one of the core issues he rode to victory in this year's primaries. Published August 23, 2016
NLRB rules that university students can unionize
Graduate students at private U.S. universities can unionize, the National Labor Relations Board ruled Tuesday in a decision that could upend the balance of power on campuses and deliver tens of thousands of new members to labor unions. Published August 23, 2016
Poor economy, continued spending mean more red ink for federal government
The deficit will spike 33 percent this year, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday, saying the gains of the last six years are coming to an end. Published August 23, 2016