Phillip Swarts

Bill Maher blames Hamas for Gaza violence: ‘Do you really expect the Israelis not to retaliate?’

HBO "Real Time" host Bill Maher left no doubt on his show Friday about who he thinks is responsible for the violence in Gaza.

July 19, 2014

Christians flee Mosul after ISIL threat: Convert to Islam or die

Christians in Iraq are heeding an ultimatum by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant to convert to Islam, get out or be killed.

July 19, 2014

Chicago shooting spree: 22 people shot in 12 hours

Adding to the city's already violent year, 22 people were shot in just a 12 hour period in Chicago at the start of the weekend.

July 19, 2014

Ex-Gitmo detainee Moazzam Begg charged with terrorism

A former detainee in Guantanamo Bay is pleading not guilty to terrorist charges stemming from the civil war in Syria.

July 19, 2014

Georgia VA centers are timely with bonuses, not medicine for veterans

The Atlanta network of Veterans Affairs medical centers doled out more than $2 million in employee bonuses over the past four years, but failed to properly maintain medicine carts, causing nurses at one center to administer drugs and treatments belatedly.

July 17, 2014

Golden Hammer: $1.5 billion spent on Afghan structures that could easily burn down, watchdog says

A big chunk of taxpayer investment in Afghanistan could go up in smoke because American-paid contractors built structures in danger of catching fire, a new investigation has found.

July 17, 2014

Ga. VA center lacks proper equipment, despite giving out thousands in bonuses

A Decatur, Georgia, Veteran's Affairs (VA) health center gave out $3,374 in bonuses in fiscal 2013, despite an internal investigator's report of malfunctioning equipment at the facility.

July 16, 2014

Pentagon pays $100M for planes Afghans won’t use: watchdog

The Pentagon is spending more than $100 million to give cargo planes to the Afghan Air Force that may actually never be used, a top U.S. watchdog warned Wednesday.

July 16, 2014

National Archives also wants answers for agencies’ lost documents

An inter-government e-mail obtained by Congress shows that agencies mired in controversies don't just have to answer to lawmakers, but to the National Archives as well.

July 16, 2014

GOP say Operation Choke Point targets gun sellers, tobacco shops

Congressional Republicans warned Tuesday that the Justice Department's Operation Choke Point is using "an axe rather than a scalpel" to target fraudulent businesses, leaving legitimate enterprises such as gun sellers as collateral damage.

July 15, 2014

Citigroup to pay $7B to settle subprime mortgage case

Citigroup agreed Monday to pay $7 billion in a landmark settlement with the U.S. for selling bad loans — one of the key causes of the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

July 14, 2014

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin presses need for space exploration

Forty-five years after man first landed on the moon, one of the men who was there is worried that the U.S. has become lost in space.

July 13, 2014

Federal agents interacted with student during five-day jailing

Drug Enforcement Administration agents are solely to blame for the wrongful incarceration of Daniel Chong, including four employees who spoke with Mr. Chong during the five days he was imprisoned without food or water, an investigative report released Thursday said.

July 10, 2014

Golden Hammer: A Year in Review: $73B of fiscal waste identified for the taxpayer

This week marks the first anniversary of the Golden Hammer appearing in The Washington Times. We thought we’d take a step back and see what that’s meant for you, the taxpayer. After all the Golden Hammer has been awarded to more than two dozen federal agencies, offices, departments and organizations.

July 10, 2014

Ten-year sentence for New Orleans’ Nagin on graft charges

Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin — who led the city during Hurricane Katrina — will serve 10 years in prison for corruption charges, a federal court announced today.

July 9, 2014

Aldrin in cyberspace: Moon explorer marks milestone

Just a few weeks before the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, astronaut Buzz Aldrin is asking social media users to remember the historic event with the #Apollo45 campaign.

July 9, 2014

Legal gun sellers threatened in loan fraud prevention program

A Justice Department program designed to cut down on loan fraud could instead wind up threatening legitimate businesses, a key Republican congressman warned Tuesday.

July 8, 2014

GOP pushes for leadership change at the U.S. Chemical Safety Board

Several prominent House Republicans are calling for a change in leadership at the U.S. Chemical Safety Board after multiple accusations of a culture of intimidation within the agency.

July 7, 2014

Golden Hammer: Postal workers caught using travel cards for personal food as costs of mailing rise

Postal workers may be famous for delivering that check in the mail. But they apparently are also good at grabbing cash advances off their official credit cards to satisfy their personal hunger.

July 3, 2014

Khattala’s lawyers say government has presented ‘lack of evidence’ in Benghazi attack

Lawyers for Benghazi terrorist suspect Ahmed Abu Khattala said Wednesday their client is innocent of accusations that he helped lead the attack that killed four Americans, including a U.S. ambassador.

July 2, 2014