Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Judge confirms ‘criminal investigation’ into Hillary Clinton emails
The FBI is conducting a high-stakes "criminal investigation" into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's email practices, a federal judge confirmed this week in a memo that said her tech guru can keep his immunity agreement private. Published June 14, 2016
Orlando attack scrambles agenda on Capitol Hill
The push is on to do something on Capitol Hill in response to the Orlando terror attack, with Democrats stepping up their push for gun controls and Republicans countering Tuesday by vowing to re-pass a series of bills designed to shape an anti-terrorism strategy. Published June 14, 2016
American-born children of immigrants proving fruitful recruiting ground for jihad in U.S.
While immigrants draw much of the attention, it's their children who are proving to be the most fruitful recruiting ground for radical jihad in the U.S., accounting for at least half of the deadly attacks over the past decade. Published June 13, 2016
House to take first vote to censure IRS chief John Koskinen
The House Oversight Committee will vote this week on a resolution censuring IRS Commissioner John Koskinen over his handling of the tea party targeting scandal, panel Chairman Jason Chaffetz announced Monday. Published June 13, 2016
Obama dubs Orlando attack ‘homegrown’ terrorism
It's difficult to spot lone-wolf terrorists ahead of time, but the country could do more to try to deny them access to the weapons they use, President Obama said Monday, in the wake of the weekend's shooting rampage that left more than 100 dead or wounded in Orlando, Florida. Published June 13, 2016
Jeh Johnson met twice as often with amnesty backers while crafting Obama executive actions
As he was crafting President Obama's executive actions on immigration, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson met repeatedly with lawmakers, advocacy groups and lawyers pushing for him to go as broad as possible in granting a deportation amnesty to illegal immigrants. Published June 12, 2016
House orders Library of Congress to maintain ‘illegal alien’
The House voted Friday to order the Library of Congress to keep using the term "illegal alien" to describe those who come to the U.S. without authorization, saying that as long as federal laws written by Congress use those terms, so should their official records-keeper. Published June 10, 2016
Hillary Clinton’s email practices ignored by State Department staffers
Even after the now-infamous photo of Hillary Clinton using a BlackBerry device appeared, the State Department didn't try to figure out why none of her emails was showing up in their systems, a top official said in testimony released Thursday. Published June 9, 2016
Obama ‘worried’ for GOP under Donald Trump
President Obama said Wednesday he's "worried" for the GOP, saying the country is better off when there are two healthy political parties but Republicans' choice of Donald Trump to be their presidential nominee suggests deep problems. Published June 8, 2016
Hispanic activists’ anti-Donald Trump efforts fall flat as citizenship push sputters
Immigrant-rights advocates had vowed to make 2016 the year of the anti-Donald Trump citizenship surge, hoping to sign up a million new immigrants eager to send a message rejeting the GOP's presidential candidate -- but so far they're falling short, with naturalization rates only slightly higher than four years ago. Published June 8, 2016
IRS computer hack was worse than agency admitted
The IRS's computer hack was worse than previously admitted, and the tax agency failed to alert thousands of people that their information was stolen, and didn't give credit monitoring assistance to nearly 80,000 others who were targeted, an inspector general said Wednesday. Published June 8, 2016
Illegal immigrants kidnapping children to sneak into U.S. as ‘family units,’ feds say
Illegal immigrants are kidnapping children and bringing them across the border, hoping to appear to be families so they can take advantage of lax enforcement policies, the Obama administration told a federal appeals court. Published June 7, 2016
Judge blocks his own order sending Obama lawyers to ethics class
Justice Department lawyers and illegal immigrants won a temporary reprieve this week after Judge Andrew S. Hanen blocked his own order sending the lawyers back to remedial ethics classes, and ordering the government to turn over information on tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who were erroneously granted a three-year deportation amnesty. Published June 7, 2016
Donald Trump says his judge attack is ‘misconstrued’
Donald Trump said Tuesday that his attack on a federal judge is being "misconstrued," insisting it's not an attack on all Mexicans, as he sought to tamp down on the first major crisis of his post-primary campaign. Published June 7, 2016
Donald Trump endorses Renee Ellmers in North Carolina, shocking his supporters
Donald Trump's endorsement of Rep. Renee Ellmers in North Carolina sent shock waves through the likely GOP presidential nominee's supporters over the weekend, stoking new fears about his political reliability after the first person he backed has a record diametrically opposed to him on immigration. Published June 6, 2016
Visa waiver program countries aren’t sharing travelers’ criminal, terrorism records with U.S.
A third of the countries whose citizens can travel to the U.S. without a visa aren't sharing critical terrorism or criminal record data with American authorities, creating a major security risk, the government's chief watchdog said Monday. Published June 6, 2016
IRS: White House never asked for secret information on taxpayers
The White House never requested any secret taxpayer information from the IRS, the tax agency said in a sworn statement filed with a federal court on Friday, hoping to put to rest lingering questions about whether political operatives tried to peek at confidential records. Published June 3, 2016
Smuggling network guided illegal immigrants from Middle East terrorist hotbeds to U.S. border
A smuggling network has managed to sneak illegal immigrants from Middle Eastern terrorism hotbeds straight to the doorstep of the U.S., including helping one Afghan who authorities say was part of an attack plot in North America. Published June 2, 2016
Obama consumer board to issue new payday loan regulations that could sink lenders
The Obama administration's consumer board will propose new restrictions on payday lenders Thursday, hoping to stop poor customers from ending up in a "debt trap" -- and potentially chasing most of the lenders out of business. Published June 2, 2016
Hillary Clinton’s chief email defense is false
Hillary Clinton's chief defense of her email behavior is that she tried to forward her messages so they were captured by the State Department -- but a Washington Times analysis found she clearly did that only a quarter of the time when she was corresponding with someone outside the department. Published June 1, 2016
