Jim McElhatton

‘Juror No. 6’ stirs debate on sentencing

Jim Caron spent 10 months on a federal jury in Washington in 2007 that voted to acquit a D.C. man accused of racketeering, murder and dozens of other charges, convicting him solely on a $600 drug deal.

May 3, 2009

Obama team reverses union transparency

The Obama administration, which has boasted about its efforts to make government more transparent, is rolling back rules requiring labor unions and their leaders to report information about their finances and compensation.

April 27, 2009

Facebook makes friends with attorneys general

The popular online social-networking site Facebook is making its first foray into politics.

April 26, 2009

Top Obama official sought bonus after bailout

Shortly before joining the Obama administration, Deputy Secretary of State Jacob J. Lew reported in a little-noticed government filing that he intended to collect a bonus for his 2008 work at Citigroup even though the Wall Street firm had just received a massive federal bailout.

April 14, 2009

WH Easter Egg Roll hot ticket online

The hottest free ticket in town is getting expensive.

March 28, 2009

WH Easter Egg Roll tickets on eBay

After the Obama White House distributed tickets to the annual Easter Egg Roll online Thursday, a group of six tickets apparently sold on eBay for nearly $1,000, while dozens of people seeking tickets posted ads elsewhere offering everything from Redskins seats to a professional photo shoot for a chance to go to the April 13 event.

March 27, 2009

EXCLUSIVE: Obama raised cash after leaving Senate

President Obama continued collecting money for his 2010 Senate re-election campaign even after he resigned his seat from Illinois, including a maximum $2,300 donation the day after Christmas from a top executive of a Wall Street firm that had received a government bailout.

March 27, 2009

Treasury seeks corporate bonus killers

If you've got a knack for knowing how much is too much in Wall Street bonuses, then the Treasury Department could have a job for you.

March 20, 2009

EXCLUSIVE: New deal for Blackwater

Days after the Baghdad government decided it no longer wanted the company then known as Blackwater in Iraq, the State Department signed a $22.2 million deal in February to keep the embattled contractor working there through most of the summer, contract records show.http://www.washingtontimes.com/admin/news/stories/362232/#

March 17, 2009

Legislators pack Podesta fundraiser

UPDATED: Despite President Obama's campaign pledge that the days of lobbyists setting the agenda in the nation's capital are over, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was dropped off in an alley and hustled into a rear door at the home of a prominent Washington lobbying couple who hosted a dinner Monday night to help raise cash for Democrats.

March 10, 2009

Labor leaders meet at posh resort

UPDATED: To hash over the worst economic crisis in decades, top union leaders from across the country are meeting this week in Miami Beach, Fla., at the Fontainebleau Resort, which dubs itself "the epicenter of style, fame and glamour."

March 6, 2009

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Hatch’s secret drug firm links

The pharmaceutical industry that long has benefited from Sen. Orrin G. Hatch's legislative efforts has directed large sums of money to a charity he helped found -- and still raises money for -- while also hiring the Republican lawmaker's son as a lobbyist.

March 2, 2009

Postmaster’s pay to be probed

Congress will hold a hearing next month into why Postmaster General John E. Potter has gotten a nearly 40 percent pay raise since 2006 and was awarded a six-figure incentive bonus last year, even as the U.S. Postal Service faces a multibillion-dollar shortfall that threatens a day of mail delivery.

February 23, 2009

Postmaster got $800,000 in pay, perks

Postmaster General John E. Potter has warned that the Post Office may need to enact belt-tightening measures. Meanwhile, he has earned 40 percent in pay raises since 2006, including a $135,000 bonus last year.

February 17, 2009

Salary cap misses one Obama appointee

Weeks before the Treasury Department announced a half-million dollar salary cap for executives at companies taking federal aid, one of President Obama's top political appointees reported a seven-figure compensation deal with one of the nation's biggest recipients of bailout cash.

February 8, 2009

Daschle folds on likely winning hand

Former Sen. Tom Daschle made the decision to withdraw from consideration as the nation's top health regulator Tuesday despite little Capitol Hill opposition and the good will he built after years of sending campaign cash to some of the same senators who were poised to vote on his nomination.

February 4, 2009

Aide paid by lobby with foreign clients

A university dean picked as one of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's top diplomatic deputies has earned tens of thousands of dollars in part-time consulting work from a prominent Washington lobbying firm with a roster of foreign clients that include a Dubai-backed company and Colombia's trade bureau.

January 30, 2009

Clinton Foundation’s secret donor

Former President Bill Clinton's foundation, despite identifying thousands of donors in recent weeks, hasn't reported who paid it windfall prices for stock in a struggling Internet firm with links to the Chinese government.

January 23, 2009

Welcome party costs $170M

Wall Street shares and home prices have tumbled, Americans' pensions have shrunk and the government is spending more than $1 trillion to bail out failing banks and businesses.

January 19, 2009

Campaign finance enters a new era

Campaign analysts say one element of President Bush's legacy is clear - his record-setting 2000 and 2004 campaigns changed the way candidates run for the White House.

January 15, 2009