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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EPA Cleared in Agency-Caused Environmental Disaster, Despite Official’s Admissions
A government watchdog reported Monday that the Environmental Protection Agency committed no wrongdoing in an environmental disaster, but the auditors ignored crucial inconsistencies in officials’ stories. The EPA breached Colorado’s Gold King Mine on Aug. 5, 2015, resulting in an estimated 3 million gallons of toxic pollution being dumped into a river that provides drinking water…Ethan Barton -
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A Short History of Special Counsels and Presidents
James Comey managed to play a role in appointment of the two most recent special counsels to investigate possible wrongdoing in a presidential administration. And both cases featured leaks to the press. Comey, ousted as FBI director by President Donald Trump, admitted last week in testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee that he leaked a…Fred Lucas -
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Judicial Watch Sues State Department, USAID for Documents on Funding to Soros’ Foreign Campaigns
Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit against the Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development for records on funding awarded to George Soros’ Open Society Foundation-Albania, the conservative nonprofit watchdog announced Wednesday. The suit was filed May 26 after both government agencies failed to respond to Judicial Watch’s Freedom of Information Act requests. The…Ethan Barton -
- Opinion
Solving the Physician Shortage Crisis
With the health care debate currently dominating headlines, many Americans may be unaware of a more subtle issue that is affecting the U.S. health care system. That issue is an increasing shortage of medical professionals. An analysis by the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that by 2030, America will likely experience a shortage of…Kevin Dayaratna -
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I Grew Up in Chavez’s Socialist Venezuela. Here’s What I Think About the Current Crisis.
Venezuela’s air is thick with tear gas and its streets are stained with the blood of its youth. The South American nation has been reduced to a battlefield as government forces brutally pummel protestors. For the past 50 days, Venezuelans throughout the country have taken to the streets in anti-government uprisings. With approval ratings in…Ricardo Pita -
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America’s Social Fabric Is Eroding. Government Must Avoid Feeding the Problem.
Our nation, today, faces very real economic challenges. Economic growth during the recovery has been meager and uneven. The U.S. economy has become less dynamic and innovative in recent decades. We miss the strong productivity growth America enjoyed in the mid-20th century and the unusually large wage gains it brought. However, in historical and comparative…Sen. Mike Lee -
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Ex-CIA Chief’s Testimony Fails to Move Trump Russia Probe, Watchdog Groups Say
Former CIA Director John Brennan told Congress Tuesday he was aware of “intelligence that revealed contacts” between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russians, giving Democrats new momentum in alleging collusion. “It raised questions in my mind, again, whether or not the Russians were able to gain the cooperation of those individuals,” John Brennan says. Still,…Fred Lucas -
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EPA Official Invites Left-Wing Environmental Group to Agency for Talk on Science
An official inside the Environmental Protection Agency invited an activist group currently locked in a lawsuit with the Trump administration to the agency’s office for a discussion about scientific integrity, according to documents obtained by the Washington Examiner. Francesca Grifo, the EPA's scientific integrity official, sent an invitation earlier this month to the Natural Resources Defense…Chris White -
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2 Republicans Battle in Razor-Tight Runoff Primary Ahead of South Carolina June Special Election
In South Carolina’s hotly-contested primary runoff for Mick Mulvaney’s old seat, it looks like the Republican candidates are headed for a recount. Two GOP candidates, Ralph Norman and Tommy Pope, were running to fill a seat vacated by Mulvaney, who now serves as director of Office of Management and Budget. Norman received 50.3 percent of…Rachel del Guidice -
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Judges Who Fret Over Trump’s Motives Are Ignoring US Judicial History
President Donald Trump’s revised executive order on immigration is back in court, and therefore back in the news. On Monday, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on the order’s constitutionality. Opponents of the order claim that it violates the Establishment Clause by setting up a ban on Muslim…Carson Holloway -
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ICE Spent Tens of Thousands of Dollars Sending Officials to Tolerance Seminar
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spent tens of thousands of dollars to send its officials to a “tolerance seminar” put on by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a group known for opposing immigration control efforts. Documents provided by ICE to the Immigration Reform Law Institute in response to a Freedom of Information Act request indicate that several dozen…Jonah Bennett -
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Younger Judicial Nominees Give Trump Chance for Legacy in Courts
President Donald Trump will begin to leave his mark on the lower courts of the federal judiciary with 10 nominees named Monday, many of them judges still in their 40s. “The president followed the principles that were used to guide that list to select the additional eight individuals,” @PressSec says. Shortly after 7:30 p.m. Monday,…Fred Lucas -
- Opinion
Dodd-Frank’s Days Are Numbered. Here’s the Financial Reform Bill America Needs.
President Ronald Reagan once said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” The Gipper understood that when the federal government tries to dictate economic outcomes, it distorts markets, harms consumers, and violates the laws of economics. Sadly, some lawmakers are still struggling to…Neil Siefring -
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CIA Confirmed Russians’ Role in Shooting of Pope John Paul II, Reagan Biographer Writes
Contrary to what “pragmatists” in U.S. government agencies concluded, top officials with the Soviet Union were behind the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II, a biographer of Ronald Reagan told The Daily Signal in an exclusive interview. Paul Kengor, a Grove City College political science professor and author, has acquired what he calls…Paul Runko -
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Former Obama Official Says Bureaucrats Manipulate Climate Stats to Influence Policy
A former member of the Obama administration claims Washington, D.C., often uses “misleading” news releases about climate data to influence public opinion. Former Energy Department Undersecretary Steven Koonin told The Wall Street Journal Monday that bureaucrats within former President Barack Obama’s administration spun scientific data to manipulate public opinion. “What you saw coming out of…Chris White -
- Opinion
How to Address the Looming Crisis of Physician Shortages
As the struggle to repeal and replace Obamacare with a plan that will decrease fast-rising and exorbitant premiums as well as increasing consumer choice rages on, another health care crisis looms. Americans are facing an increasing shortage of primary care physicians, and the problem is only expected to get worse over the next 10 years. Imagine…Nicholas Poché -
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Kansas Republican’s Narrow Win Serves as Warning for GOP
Republican Ron Estes won a seat in Kansas’ 4th District on Tuesday that was vacated when President Donald Trump appointed Rep. Mike Pompeo to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Estes will takes the seat Pompeo held in the House of Representatives since 2011 before joining the CIA in January. Estes, Kansas’ state…Rachel del Guidice -
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We Can’t Bail Out Social Security Disability Insurance Forever. Here’s a Reform Proposal.
Few things make Americans more upset than a threat to the Social Security program that they have spent years paying into. That is why a Facebook video of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., raising a point of order against the 2015 budget deal has been viewed more than 76 million times. That vote, taken in the…Sen. Mike Lee -
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A Pathway to Work for Social Security Disability Beneficiaries
Social Security Disability Insurance beneficiaries who recover should be on a pathway to return fully to the workforce, as soon as they are able. A new bill in Congress would pave the way for them to do so. This month, Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., introduced the Social Security Disability Insurance Return to Work Act of…Romina Boccia -
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Trump Makes Next Move to Shape Federal Judiciary
President Donald Trump has tapped a federal district judge from his list of potential Supreme Court picks to be his first nominee to a federal appellate court—putting Trump slightly behind President Barack Obama, but ahead of President George W. Bush in shaping the judiciary. “This is a great sign that President Trump takes lower courts…Fred Lucas