Kelly Riddell

Anti-drug task force withholds data and blocks probes, new report says

A multiagency anti-drug task force has withheld some of its data from law enforcement workers, obstructed internal investigations into its practices and retaliated against those who reported its dysfunctions to authorities, a report says.

March 26, 2014

FBI takes more than 2 weeks to put terrorism suspects on watch list, report says

The delays and occasional oversights result primarily from "redundant and inefficient processes" at FBI headquarters.

March 25, 2014

DHS under fire with St. Elizabeths plan over budget, woefully behind

When the Department of Homeland Security submitted its master plan for its headquarters on the west campus of St. Elizabeths Hospital in 2006, officials projected they would move into the new facility by 2015.

March 23, 2014

IRS employs former cop convicted of FBI snooping

The Internal Revenue Service, already facing accusations that its workers improperly snooped through tax files, has hired a former police officer convicted just a few years ago of illegally accessing FBI records and providing information to a subject of a counterterrorism investigation involving an infamous al Qaeda figure.

March 20, 2014

Missing Malaysian jetliner sparks new life into old terror plots

The 13-year-old plot is relevant once again as U.S. officials search for leads that may uncover why Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing 11 days ago.

March 17, 2014

Kelly’s Criminals: Not so happily ever after for newlyweds

The honeymoon was over before it began for a couple heading to Grand Cayman.

March 14, 2014

China says its satellite images could show Malaysia Airlines plane debris

The satellite images, which were captured Sunday, appear to show "three suspected floating objects" between Malaysia and Vietnam, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported, adding that one of the objects measured 79 feet by 72 feet.

March 12, 2014

Search for missing Malaysian airliner widens as mystery deepens

Malaysian authorities expand the search for a missing airliner to include an area west of the plane's takeoff point.

March 11, 2014

Missing Malaysian airliner: ‘There isn’t anything that isn’t strange about this’

With the mystery of the disappearance of a Malaysian airliner growing for a third day, aviation analysts speculated Monday that a catastrophic event such as a bomb blast or mechanical failure brought down the Boeing 777 over the dense jungles of Vietnam.

March 10, 2014

Kidnap, torture lead man to prison, not divorce

A Brooklyn personal trainer faces 20 years in prison for his role in a religious divorce-torture scheme.

March 7, 2014

DHS accused of holding U.S. citizen at airport, using emails to pry into her sex life

The Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection is accused of detaining an Indiana woman at the airport without cause and then quizzing her about her sex life on knowledge the agents may have gained through the interception of private emails.

March 7, 2014

Hill watchdog Grassley blocked by administration privacy claims

President Obama entered the Oval Office in 2009 promising his White House was committed to "an unprecedented level of openness" that would "strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in government."

March 5, 2014

Eric Holder released from hospital after emergency room visit

Dispatchers said they received a call from the Justice Department at 9:43 a.m. for a man who was experiencing chest pains and abnormal breathing on the fifth floor, where Mr. Holder's office is located.

February 27, 2014

From the FBI files: Flier charged for punch-drunk behavior

A California man faces federal charges after flying three sheets to the wind from Manila to Los Angeles on Sunday, according to an FBI report.

February 27, 2014

U.S. drug trade expected to continue after arrest of Mexico’s ‘El Chapo’

This month's capture of the world's most-wanted narcotics kingpin, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, will have little to no impact on the amount of drugs flowing into the U.S. across the Mexican border, experts say.

February 27, 2014

Jeh Johnson defends Marrone hire, admits not reading background check

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson acknowledged Wednesday that he never read the background security check for his top staffer, telling lawmakers he based his hiring of chief of staff Christian Marrone solely on their time together at the Defense Department.

February 26, 2014

D.C. mom takes gun case to Supreme Court

Amanda Welling has traveled a long, twisting road to transfer her handgun from her former Texas home to her new one in Southeast D.C. — a road that has led her to the Supreme Court.

February 19, 2014

DHS official Marrone used private eye to spy on future Pennsylvania governor Rendell

When his past in a Pennsylvania corruption case surfaced recently, Homeland Security chief of staff Christian Marrone's defenders insisted he was a victim of a crooked politician who took advantage of his inexperience. Some even suggested that Mr. Marrone was a whistleblower for helping prosecutors convict his former boss.

February 17, 2014

GOP lawmakers press Obama admin on background check of Homeland aide tied to Pa. scandals

Top congressional Republicans want the Obama administration to turn over background-check records on the Department of Homeland Security’s new chief of staff, Christian Marrone, citing ethics questions tied to a Pennsylvania political scandal.

February 12, 2014

Eric Holder: Return voting rights to felons after release

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said Tuesday that the states should let felons vote after they have served their sentences — a move that would disproportionately expand the number of minority voters and thus help the Democratic Party in elections.

February 11, 2014