U.S. Intelligence Agency News
The Daily Signal provides coverage of intelligence operations, surveillance controversies, and the role of U.S. agencies in national security and civil liberties.
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opinion
2 Democrat Senators Show Hostility to Religion in Questions for Judicial Nominee
“Do you consider yourself an orthodox Catholic?” is an unusual and inappropriate question for a senator to ask a judicial nominee. In fact, the Constitution forbids it. But that didn’t stop Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., from probing Notre Dame Law professor Amy Coney Barrett about her faith. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. D-Calif., also chided Barrett for… -
opinion
Trump Can Aid the Irma Relief Effort by Issuing Special Waiver
As Hurricane Irma bears down on Puerto Rico, home to 3.4 million U.S. citizens, President Donald Trump should prepare the way for a rapid relief and rebuilding effort by issuing an emergency waiver of the Jones Act. The Jones Act (formally the Merchant Marine Act of 1920) requires that all shipping between U.S. ports be… -
news
Florida Democrat Election Official Admits Noncitizens, Felons Voting
A veteran Democrat chief election official in Florida has conceded in court that noncitizens and felons possibly voted, in a case that could have national implications for how localities clean up voter rolls. Broward County Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes is defending her office against a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Rights Union, a conservative… -
news
Conservatives Push for Democrats to Stop Obstructing Trump Judicial Nominees
Conservatives are launching a campaign to put pressure on Democrats and counter what they view as the obstruction of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees. “This is an issue that has energized the American people in a unique way last November,” Carrie Severino, chief counsel and policy director of the Judicial Crisis Network, told The Daily… -
news
CIA Veteran Sees Russian Connection to 2 Groups Opposing Fracking, Pipelines
Some environmental activists who pressure politicians to halt production of natural gas are acting as “agents of influence” on behalf of the Kremlin and Russian energy interests, according to a retired CIA officer’s analysis of the money trail. “We cannot allow foreign interests to deliberately manipulate our energy industry,” Rep. @LamarSmithTX21 says. As they lead… -
opinion
The Growing Racial Divide Within Black Lives Matter
After the events in Charlottesville and Boston of recent days, expect Black Lives Matter to be both energized as a movement and for the broader left to double down on race as a means to achieving radical social upheaval. Yet even as the movement regains steam with a focus on the physical dismantling of statues… -
news
Why Patricia Heaton Is a Problem for Feminists
Every week, The Daily Signal’s Facebook show, “Problematic Women,” highlights strong conservative women, current events, and the hypocrisy of the “feminist” left. On this week’s episode, the mainstream media can’t stop talking about President Donald Trump’s response to Charlottesville and Iceland is eliminating Down syndrome—not through medicine, but through abortion. We also address actress Patricia… -
news
Alabama Special Election GOP Primary Goes to September Runoff
Two Republicans, Sen. Luther Strange, R-Ala., and former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, will compete in a runoff election in September after failing to garner 50 percent of the vote in Alabama’s special election to fill the seat of now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The winner of the GOP runoff, which will be Sept. 26, will… -
news
Underreported: Meet 2 Political Prisoners From Socialist Venezuela
In recent months, Venezuela has spiraled into a full-blown humanitarian and political crisis. Politicians with criminal backgrounds run the country, employing violence and arresting peaceful, anti-government protesters. In The Daily Signal’s feature series, “Underreported,” we interview Francisco Marquez, an ex-political prisoner who now lives in the United States, and Wuilly Arteaga, who recently was thrown… -
news
Venezuela’s Socialist Leader Asks for UN Meeting With Trump as His Nation Crumbles
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says he is ready to meet with President Donald Trump, just days after Washington hit the ruling socialist regime with sanctions. Speaking Thursday to the newly installed National Constituent Assembly, an all-powerful legislative body packed with Maduro loyalists, the socialist leader called on Venezuela’s foreign minister to arrange a phone call or face-to-face… -
news
Trump Hasn’t ‘Given Any Thought’ to Firing Special Counsel in Russia Probe
President Donald Trump said he doesn’t intend to fire special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and possible ties between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign “I haven’t given it any thought. Well, I’ve been reading about it from you people,” Trump said Thursday during an impromptu press conference… -
opinion
These Special Appointees Often Undermine US Foreign Policy Goals. Here’s How to Fix the Problem.
There’s an age-old rule of family gatherings that still holds true today: Stay out of grandma’s way in the kitchen. She has a meal to prepare and knows exactly what she’s doing, and how to do it. Too many cooks causes inefficiency, miscommunication, and a confusion of leadership roles. This “too many cooks” problem applies… -
opinion
Socialism Has Destroyed Venezuela
Friedrich Hayek famously observed that socialist central planning puts countries on the road to serfdom. The latest dead end on that highway to hell—already littered with the human victims of past failed attempts in places like Cuba and the old Soviet Union—is in Caracas, Venezuela. That is where, last weekend, President Nicolás Maduro and the… -
news
House IT Aide’s Lawyer Is Longtime Clinton Associate
Chris Gowen, Imran Awan’s lawyer, is a longtime campaigner for former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a member of an attorney team that brought a fraudulent lawsuit against energy giant Chevron Corp. Pakistani-born Imran was arrested late Monday at Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia before he could board a… -
opinion
Corrupt Mexican Officials Are to Blame for Illegal Human Smuggling Racket
Florida truck driver James Matthew Bradley isn’t the mastermind of the human smuggling ring that led to the grisly deaths of 10 illegal immigrants in his rig, which authorities found at a San Antonio Walmart over the weekend. He’s just a cog in the machine. Bradley may now face the death penalty for transporting up… -
news
Texas Officials Say Human Smuggling Deaths Show Need for Anti-Sanctuary Law
The discovery of nine dead bodies and more than 30 injured people inside a sweltering tractor trailer in San Antonio shows that a tough anti-sanctuary city law is needed more than ever, top Texas officials said Sunday. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wrote on Facebook that sanctuary cities “entice” people to come to the U.S. illegally and place… -
opinion
This Official Had the Spine to Stand Up to the Powerful CFPB. Congress Should Follow His Lead.
Three cheers for Keith Noreika, the acting comptroller of the currency, for having the chutzpah to challenge the regulatory deceit of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and its director, Richard Cordray. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Noreika on Monday took the unusual (and commendable) step of calling for delay of the bureau’s new and… -
opinion
Harvard’s Proposed Policy Would Punish Students for Having Normal Social Lives
For the second time in less than two years, Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana is expanding paternalistic restrictions and sanctions on the student body based on whom they choose to be friends with. In an email to the student body on July 12, the dean reported that the “USGSO Committee”—which handles policy on “unrecognized single-gender… -
opinion
Social Security Reform Is Urgent and Necessary
Late in the afternoon on Thursday last week, the Social Security Administration released its annual trustees’ report. As is often the case when government entities have bad news to report, they do so on a schedule that makes it easier to bury the information. The American people need to know the state of finances of… -
opinion
Congress Should Protect Taxpayers, Not Cave to Agricultural Special Interests, in Next Budget
The House and Senate agriculture committees, as evidenced by their recent farm bill hearings and complaints about wanting more handouts, seem to be focused on funneling money to agricultural special interests—even at the expense of taxpayers and consumers. There needs to be a check on these committees so that the interests of taxpayers and consumers…