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Sean Lengell

slengell@washingtontimes.com

Sean Lengell was a staff writer for The Washington Times.

Articles by Sean Lengell

** FILE ** This Feb. 2, 2012, file photo shows then-CIA Director David Petraeus testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington. Petraeus has resigned because of an extramarital affair. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

Petraeus: Benghazi seen as terror strike right away

In his first testimony since stepping down last week, former CIA Director David H. Petraeus told a closed Capitol Hill briefing Friday that the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya "was a terrorist attack and there were terrorists involved from the start," Rep. Peter T. King said Friday.

November 16, 2012
Republican Sens. Daniel Coats of Indiana (left) and John McCain of Arizona arrive for Thursday’s closed-door intelligence committee hearing. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Investigator criticizes State spending on security

The State Department has seen dramatic boosts in diplomatic security funding and staffing but failed to spend the money strategically and didn't fill key posts, a congressional investigator said Thursday as Congress took a closer look at how four Americans died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.

November 15, 2012
** FILE ** This Oct. 4, 2011, photo shows Rep. Allen West, Florida Republican, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

GOP leaders back West’s call for recount

State and national Republican Party officials are getting behind Rep. Allen B. West's call for a recount of all early votes in St. Lucie County, Fla., saying it would be "unconscionable" not to answer lingering questions about the results, which show the outspoken GOP lawmaker trailing Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy.

November 15, 2012
** FILE ** This Oct. 4, 2011, photo shows Rep. Allen West, Florida Republican, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg)

Early votes in West’s Florida race being recounted

Florida's secretary of state dispatched auditors Wednesday to try to get to the bottom of voting irregularities in St. Lucie County, where Rep. Allen B. West trails in vote-counting after last week's election but says there are too many questions for him to concede.

November 14, 2012
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, is congratulated by House congresswomen, as she announces that she will stay on at that post at the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, D.C., Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012. (Andrew Harnik/The Washington Times)

Pelosi wants to remain House minority leader

Underscoring just how little has changed despite last week's elections, both chambers of Congress are poised to re-elect the same people to lead them into next year.

November 14, 2012
Rep.-elect Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona will be the first openly bisexual member of Congress. “[F]irst and foremost, I identify myself as an Arizonian,” she said at the news conference. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

Freshmen learn way around Hill

While Congress returned to work Tuesday facing the looming "fiscal cliff" and a slew of other pressing legislative matters, the class of freshmen lawmakers who will be sworn in in January met at the Capitol to tackle more mundane matters — such as learning the location of the nearest restrooms.

November 13, 2012
Democratic Rep. Ron Barber of Arizona hugs his wife, Nancy, on Election Day. Mr. Barber has pulled ahead of challenger Martha McSally by almost 700 votes after the Republican led by less than 500 votes in the days immediately after the election. (Associated Press)

West refusing to concede House re-election battle

Combative Republican tea party icon Rep. Allen B. West won't concede his re-election fight despite Florida ballot counts showing Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy with a slim lead.

November 12, 2012
**FILE** Eric Cantor (Associated Press)

‘Fiscal cliff’ not Congress’ only looming peril

When Congress returns to work Tuesday for what is expected to be a hyperbusy lame-duck session, it will have more to worry about than just the looming "fiscal cliff," a series of automatic spending cuts and tax hikes scheduled to kick in at the end of the year.

November 11, 2012
“We want to make sure there’s a fair and open electoral process, and there’s some violations of Florida state law. There are some things that people have to answer for.” - Rep. Allen B. West, Florida Republican. (Associated Press)

Nine House seats still undecided

One of the loudest mouths in Congress is trying to preserve his voice, as Republican Rep. Allen B. West is pushing back at election results in South Florida that show him trailing his Democratic challenger by a razor-thin margin.

November 8, 2012
Sen.-elect Angus King, Maine independent, celebrates his victory Nov. 6, 2012, in Freeport, Maine. The win helps the moderate core in the Senate. (Associated Press)

Moderates will have a voice on the Hill

Congressional moderates are down in numbers after Tuesday's elections, but they're not quite out, despite the highly charged partisanship that has engulfed Capitol Hill in recent years.

November 7, 2012
A supporter takes pictures of Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., during a campaign, Monday, Nov. 5, 2012 in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

ELECTION 2012: Morning-after reality: No easy answers to gridlock

From illegal immigrants to defense contractors and millionaires to Medicaid patients, Americans had plenty riding on Tuesday's outcome — but few were expecting the election to provide answers to the gridlock that has prevented Washington from tackling the big issues.

November 6, 2012
Whether House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will remain a party caucus leader after the election is one of the biggest mysteries on Capitol Hill. If the Democrats fail to win back the House, speculation of the party injecting new blood into its leadership only will increase. Mrs. Pelosi has remained tight-lipped on the matter. (Associated Press)

Pelosi’s fate up in the air

While the world's attention is fixed on the race for president and second-in-command, the fate of the third person in the line of White House succession also will be decided Tuesday, as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi hopes her Democratic Party defies the odds to recapture the chamber.

November 5, 2012
Rep. Timothy H. Bishop, New York Democrat, has pegged his challenger — a business executive and former investment banker — as being out of touch with the Long Island district’s working class electorate. Randy Altschuler, the Republican challenger, has portrayed the incumbent, a five-term House member, as a lock-step liberal Obama Democrat. The Republican also has secured a coveted endorsement from Newsday. (Associated Press)

Long Island rematch for House seat another ‘tossup’

Randy Altschuler already had completed orientation for new members of Congress two years ago when his razor-thin lead over Democrat Timothy H. Bishop flipped into a 600-vote loss after a count of all absentee and affidavit ballots. So in this year's rematch to represent eastern Long Island, neither is taking anything for granted.

November 1, 2012
Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg (left) and Robert Menendez, Democrats of New Jersey, toured areas ravaged by the storm spawned by Hurricane Sandy with President Obama on Wednesday. They asked the president to increase the federal share of disaster relief, citing New Jersey’s continuing costs from Hurricane Irene last year. (Associated Press)

FEMA has $3.6B for Sandy relief

While Congress is facing several unresolved issues in a potentially busy post-election lame duck session, finding additional disaster relief money for Hurricane Sandy likely won't be on the list, as FEMA and lawmakers say available funds should be sufficient.

October 31, 2012
“Richard Mourdock said that life is always a gift from God, and we couldn’t agree more.” - Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of The Susan B. Anthony List (Associated Press)

Pro-lifers stand with Mourdock in flap over rape

With his statement Tuesday that pregnancy from rape is God's will, Senate candidate Richard Mourdock became the latest Republican to stumble into trouble attempting to articulate a key pro-life argument against abortion — that life begins at conception — but doing so in a way that appears insensitive to women.

October 24, 2012
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said there is bipartisan support to let the temporary reduction in payroll taxes expire. (Associated Press)

Payroll-tax break has bleak future

While the economy and proposals to help middle-income Americans have dominated the election season rhetoric, a payroll-tax cut that has put an extra $20 a week in the pockets of many workers since last year seems likely to die a quiet death in January.

October 23, 2012
West (AP Photo)

Democrats embrace super PACs to compete

Democrats have vilified super PACs since the Supreme Court deemed the murky megamoney-spenders legal in early 2010. And leading that charge has been President Obama, who, during his State of the Union speech that year, famously chastised the PACs' power for unlimited political spending with little transparency.

October 18, 2012
Former Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, a tea party favorite, is facing stiff opposition in her congressional re-election campaign from Democrat Jim Graves. (Associated Press)

House challengers up effort against GOP stalwarts

High-profile House members typically cruise toward re-election with little worry. But Democrats and their allies this year have vowed to make a few of the chamber's top Republicans sweat at least a bit during the campaign season.

October 16, 2012