Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
Governors, climate activists help sell Obama’s green agenda
The Obama administration, top climate change crusaders and governors from across the country have engaged in a highly coordinated effort to publicly sell the president's green agenda and put private pressure on opponents, according to newly released emails and other records obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. Published August 31, 2015
State Dept. says 150 more classified emails in latest Hillary Clinton release
The Obama administration is increasingly finding classified information in former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton emails, declaring secret material in nearly 3 percent of the new batch of emails released late Monday night. Published August 31, 2015
Charles Grassley prods whether Clintons evaded ethics officials for paid speeches
A top Republican questioned Friday whether former State Department Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton ran her husband's speeches by ethics officials within the department, after emails surfaced showing conversations about the speeches didn't appear to include the right people. Published August 28, 2015
IRS must say if White House sought taxpayers’ information: Judge
A federal judge Friday ordered the IRS to turn over the records of any requests from the White House seeking taxpayers' private information from the tax agency, delivering a victory to a group that for two years has been trying to pry the data loose. Published August 28, 2015
Appeals court backs NSA phone-snooping, overturns Klayman victory
A federal appeals court backed the National Security Agency's phone-snooping program Friday ruling that Larry Klayman, the plaintiff and frequent court adversary to President Obama, never proved his calls were scooped up in the phone-records dragnet. Published August 28, 2015
Ben Carson surges past Jeb Bush to No. 2 spot as Republicans embrace outsiders
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has surged to the No. 2 spot in the GOP field, overtaking former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and, combined with front-running businessman Donald Trump, gives outsiders a firm grip atop the Republican presidential race. Published August 27, 2015
Bloated U.S. voter rolls could lead to lawsuits
America's voter rolls are so bloated that dozens of counties have more people registered than there are adults living there, according to two new studies released Thursday that the authors said could lead to lawsuits forcing states to clean things up. Published August 27, 2015
Obama EPA rule blocked, criticized as fed power grab over state waters
President Obama's push to extend the EPA's regulatory hand to ditches and small streams to enforce clean water rules was blocked Thursday by a federal judge, who said the administration had overstepped its bounds in trying yet another end run around Congress. Published August 27, 2015
Solyndra lied to government to secure Obama stimulus cash, IG report finds
Solyndra, the solar panel manufacturer that took more than $500 million from President Obama's stimulus then went bust, sticking taxpayers for the loss, lied to federal officials to secure the loan, the Energy Department's inspector general said in a report released Wednesday. Published August 26, 2015
Solyndra misled government to get $535M solar project loan: report
California-based solar company Solyndra provided false information and misleading reports to the federal government to secure an ill-fated $535 million loan for a solar project, according to the Department of Energy's inspector general. Published August 26, 2015
2016 presidential field full of marijuana users: report
The 2016 presidential field could be the most doped-up in history. Published August 26, 2015
Budget deficit smallest of Obama presidency, but economy still sluggish: CBO
The economy is sluggish but growing and inflation remains low, painting a decidedly mixed picture for the federal government, the Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday, saying the fiscal situation is improving this year but will snap back by 2018 to swelling deficits and unsustainable debt. Published August 25, 2015
IRS finds yet another Lois Lerner email account
Lois Lerner had yet another personal email account used to conduct some IRS business, the tax agency confirmed in a new court filing late Monday that further complicates the administration's efforts to be transparent about Ms. Lerner's actions during the tea party targeting scandal. Published August 24, 2015
Is Joe Biden running for president?
Speculation over a possible presidential bid by Vice President Joseph R. Biden kicked into high gear Monday after he met over the weekend with Democratic kingmaker Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and the White House seemed to give him a public nudge of sorts, saying he's ready for the top job. Published August 24, 2015
Twitter cancels Politwoops, warehouse of politicians’ gaffes
Twitter has done a huge favor for bungling politicians worldwide after the social media site canceled Politwoops, a series of dozens of accounts that preserved deleted posts the pols would have preferred the public not see. Published August 24, 2015
Illegal immigrants with children released quickly under federal judge’s ruling
Immigrant rights advocates are cheering a federal judge's ruling that says illegal immigrant families fleeing violence in Central America must be processed quickly and released into the U.S., though the court order leaves room for many of them to be detained. Published August 23, 2015
Judge orders illegal immigrant families quickly released
The Obama administration must begin releasing illegal immigrants mothers and children by October, a federal judge ordered late Friday in a ruling that punctures the last remaining get-tough part of President Obama's immigration policy and, the administration believes, sets the stage for a new surge of illegal immigration. Published August 22, 2015
Mexico condemns attack on immigrant attributed to Trump rhetoric
Mexico waded into the American political debate over immigration Friday with a plea to tone down the rhetoric after an older Mexican man was beaten in Boston earlier this week and one of the suspects made comments praising GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump's call to get tough on illegal immigrants. Published August 21, 2015
Donald Trump pushes birthright citizenship to forefront of political debate
Birthright citizenship, an issue long kicked about in Republican circles, has leaped to the forefront of the political debate, with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump leading the charge and drawing fierce fire from critics who say he and his fellow candidates are messing with a fundamental principle of American history. Published August 20, 2015
Court says Hillary Clinton emails broke ‘government policy’
A federal judge said Thursday that former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's unique email arrangement violated government policy and prodded the department to talk with the FBI to determine what documents can be recovered from the computer server and flash drives used to store her emails. Published August 20, 2015
