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Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan

Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.

Articles by Stephen Dinan

WEB STOCK Police Officer inspects a cell phone. (AP Photo)

Supreme Court bans warrantless cell phone searches

The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that police cannot go snooping through people's cell phones without a warrant, in a unanimous decision that amounts to a major statement in favor of privacy rights. Published June 25, 2014

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 24, 2014, to testify before the House Homeland Security Committee hearing regarding the growing problem of unaccompanied children crossing the border into the US. Johnson told the committee he would consider "every conceivable, lawful option" to deal with a continuing flood of immigrants crossing the U.S. border illegally from Mexico into southern Texas. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

DHS chief to Congress: I can’t explain surge of illegal immigrant children

Smuggling cartels are using the surge of illegal immigrant children as a smoke screen to distract the Border Patrol, leaving gaps in security that the gangs then use to slip more drugs or known criminals into the country, the chief of the Border Patrol's labor union will tell Congress on Wednesday. Published June 24, 2014

**FILE** Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican (Associated Press)

Poor care at VA hospitals cost 1,000 veterans their lives, report says

The problems at Veterans Affairs extend well beyond long wait lists, with a report Tuesday showing the department is plagued with poor care that has cost up to 1,000 veterans their lives and left taxpayers on the hook for nearly $1 billion in malpractice settlements since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Published June 24, 2014

Honduran embassy says DHS treats illegal immigrant children well

Honduran officials said last week that the U.S. government is doing a good job of taking care of the unaccompanied children surging across the border, contradicting claims of abuse that have been lodged by immigrant-rights groups. Published June 23, 2014

**FILE** Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union (Gage Skidmore)

Koch network says no ties to new ACU chief

Koch Industries is distancing itself from Matt Schlapp, the new chairman of the American Conservative Union, who used to run the Washington political shop for the network of companies and political organizations associated with Charles and David Koch. Published June 23, 2014

FILE - This June 18, 2014, file photo shows a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer as he helps a few boys to make phone calls, some of the hundreds of mostly Central American immigrant children that are being processed and held at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nogales Placement Center in Nogales, Ariz. Thousands of immigrant children crossing alone into the U.S. can live in American cities, attend public schools and possibly work here for years without consequences. The chief reasons are an overburdened, deeply flawed system of immigration courts and a 2002 law intended to protect children's welfare, an Associated Press investigation finds. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool, File)

Jeh Johnson: ‘No permisos’ for children on border

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson penned an op-ed for Spanish-language news outlets over the weekend vowing there will be no "permisos" or "free passes" for illegal immigrant children who are jumping the border. Published June 23, 2014

** FILE ** In Wednesday, this June 18, 2014, file photo, boys wait for medical appointments in a holding area where hundreds of mostly Central American immigrant children were being processed and held at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nogales Placement Center in Nogales, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool)

White House promises enforcement surge on border

The Obama administration promised an enforcement "surge" on the southwest border last week to combat the flood of children and families trying to get into the U.S. illegally, saying that adding more judges to decide cases will allow the government to kick people out of the country faster. Published June 20, 2014

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio talks to reporters during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, June 19, 2014. Boehner and congressional leaders met with President Barack Obama yesterday about the ongoing crisis in Iraq. The speaker charged that terrorism and the unrest in the Middle East had worsened during Obama's term. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Boehner: Call out National Guard for border

House Speaker John A. Boehner on Friday called on President Obama to deploy the National Guard to the border to help stem the surge of young illegal immigrant children that has overwhelmed the administration and distracted the Border Patrol from being able to guard against smugglers and other dangers. Published June 20, 2014

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner John Koskinen is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, June 20, 2014, prior to testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee hearing on whether tea party groups were improperly targeted for increased scrutiny by the IRS. The IRS asserts it can't produce emails from seven officials connected to the tea party investigation because of computer crashes, including the emails from Lois Lerner, the former IRS official at the center of the investigation who has invoked her Fifth Amendment right at least nine times to avoid answering lawmakers' questions. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

IRS commish: No apologies for losing Lerner emails

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told Congress on Friday that he doesn't owe any apology for the agency losing Lois G. Lerner's emails — or for waiting so long to inform investigators about the loss. Published June 20, 2014

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 17, 2014, after a Democratic caucus meeting. (Associated Press)

Harry Reid: Koch brothers are ‘a cult’

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday likened the conservative Koch brothers' political efforts to "a cult," and called on them to open up their operations to public scrutiny. Published June 19, 2014

** FILE ** Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican. (Associated Press)

Democrats draft amendment to curb election spending

Senate Democrats on Wednesday backtracked from a wide-ranging proposal to repeal part of the First Amendment, instead passing a slimmer constitutional amendment that singles out corporations for special restrictions and leaves to judges' future rulings the toughest decisions about how far Congress could go in silencing electioneering. Published June 18, 2014

From left: Marisa Falcon, Claudia Saucedo, and Yaquelin Lopez, all from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and all part of DREAMers' Moms, demonstrate outside the White House on April 28, 2014, to demand that President Obama stop deportation of immigrants. DREAMers' Moms is a National network of women and mothers who are in support of immigration reform. (Associated Press) **FILE**

White House hosts Dreamers as Obama grapples with flood of new illegal immigrants

The White House on Tuesday played host to illegal immigrants who have been granted tentative legal status under President Obama's non-deportation policies, highlighting the administration's efforts to protect young illegal immigrants in the interior of the U.S. even as it tried to stop a surge of more children crossing the border. Published June 17, 2014

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Dave Camp, Michigan Republican, said it should not have taken a year for the IRS to tell Congress that it didn't have all of former employee Lois G. Lerner's emails. "The fact that I am just learning about this, over a year into the investigation, is completely unacceptable and now calls into question the credibility of the IRS's response to to congressional inquiriers," he said. (Associated Press)

GOP: IRS lost emails go beyond Lerner

Two top Republicans said Tuesday that in addition to Lois G. Lerner's emails, the IRS appears to also have lost records from six other agency employees involved in the tea party targeting scandal. Published June 17, 2014