Jerry Seper

Illegals targeted sheriff as gang initiation

The attempted assassination of a South Carolina deputy sheriff was a gang initiation carried out by three illegal immigrants including a 15-year-old boy who was supposed to "kill a cop" in order to be admitted as a member, according to a confidential Department of Homeland Security advisory. Published February 26, 2009

Rancher ruling adds to border debate

Arizona rancher Roger Barnett faced a multimillion dollar payment to several illegal immigrants he stopped at gunpoint on his land. A verdict rejected any notion he violated the trespassers' civil rights. Published February 22, 2009

Rancher cleared in rights case

A federal jury in Tucson ruled Tuesday that an Arizona rancher did not violate the civil rights of 16 Mexican nationals he stopped after they sneaked illegally into the United States, but awarded $78,000 in actual and punitive damages on claims of assault and the infliction of emotional distress. Published February 18, 2009

Jury: Rancher did not violate Mexicans’ rights

A federal jury on Tuesday ruled that an Arizona rancher did not violate the civil rights of 16 Mexican nationals he detained at gunpoint after they had snuck illegally into the United States in 2004, but the jury awarded $78,000 in actual and punitive damages to six of the illegal immigrants on claims of assault and infliction of emotional distress. Published February 17, 2009

Deported for drugs, illegal sues rancher

One of the 16 illegal immigrants allowed by a federal court to sue an Arizona rancher for stopping them at gunpoint after they sneaked across the U.S.-Mexico border is a convicted felon deported from this country after a 1993 arrest by U.S. authorities on drug charges, court records show. Published February 13, 2009

16 illegals sue Arizona rancher

An Arizona man who has waged a 10-year campaign to stop a flood of illegal immigrants from crossing his property is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who accuse him of conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on his ranch on the U.S.-Mexico border. Published February 9, 2009

EXCLUSIVE: Vilsack’s revolving door on energy

President-elect Obama promised to expand renewable energy and close the "revolving door" of lobbyists. In choosing Tom Vilsack as agriculture secretary, he likely fulfilled neither promise. Published January 14, 2009

Blagojevich faces impeachment trial

The Illinois House of Representatives voted Friday to impeach Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, setting up a Senate trial to determine whether the first Democrat to be elected governor of Illinois in 30 years should be removed from office. Published January 10, 2009

Border chief wins bonus despite criticism

The Bush administration has awarded a $61,200 bonus to Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar, whose agency has been criticized for delays in a $20 million fence project and for an accelerated hiring program questioned by auditors. Published January 8, 2009

Obama’s Justice pick draws fire of pro-lifers

Social conservatives and pro-life activists are mobilizing against President-elect Barack Obama's pick Monday for the No. 3 Justice Department job, a lawyer who aided the effort to remove Terry Schiavo's feeding tube during the landmark right-to-die case four years ago. Published January 6, 2009

Obama faces Mexican drug war

Add another pressing challenge to President-elect Barack Obama's growing to-do list - tamping down a dramatic rise in violence and corruption that has overwhelmed the U.S.-Mexico border and spread an escalating turf fight between warring drug cartels into the United States. Published January 2, 2009

Financial ties of Clinton, Vilsack scrutinized

Financial ties of two of President-elect Barack Obama's top appointees came under scrutiny Thursday as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's husband disclosed his extensive fundraising among foreign countries and a security contractor she must deal with as secretary of state, and Secretary of Agriculture-designate Tom Vilsack faced questions about farm subsidies and lobbying connections. Published December 19, 2008

Holder testimony on pardon questioned

Attorney General-designate Eric H. Holder Jr. told Congress under oath that he had "only a passing familiarity" with the criminal case against billionaire Marc Rich before President Clinton pardoned the fugitive financier in 2001- testimony that is now raising concerns among lawmakers reviewing Mr. Holder's nomination. Published December 18, 2008

Obama aide tied to failed immigration program

One of President-elect Barack Obama's top immigration advisers oversaw a Clinton-era program that awarded U.S. citizenship to thousands of convicted criminals and failed to conduct adequate FBI background checks on foreigners during a push to reduce a backlog of naturalization applications. Published December 16, 2008

Obama ‘advisor’ in scandal unidentified

Five days after Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich was arrested in a "pay-for-play" scandal, President-elect Barack Obama's transition team has yet to reveal the name of the "president-elect advisor" mentioned in a federal complaint. Published December 14, 2008

FBI probes claims against Coleman supporter

FBI agents are investigating accusations that a Minnesota-based insurance company that employs the wife of Sen. Norm Coleman sent invoices last year to a Texas firm seeking $75,000 for work that, according to two pending lawsuits, was never performed and secretly was intended for the Minnesota Republican. Published December 11, 2008

Blackwater joins fight against sea piracy

Pirates beware - Blackwater Worldwide may be looking for you, and soon. That prospect certainly would shiver Bartholomew Roberts, better known as "Black Bart," down to his timbers if the infamous pirate hadn't been dead for the past 285 years. Published December 4, 2008

Justice candidate Holder guided Rich pardon

The former prosecutor whom President-elect Barack Obama wants to run the Justice Department bypassed the agency's career lawyers during one of the most controversial final decisions made by President Clinton in January 2001. Published November 20, 2008

Justice nominee guided Rich pardon

The former prosecutor whom President-elect Barack Obama wants to run the Justice Department bypassed the agency's career lawyers during one of the most controversial final decisions made by President Clinton in January 2001 the pardon of billionaire fugitive financier Marc Rich, congressional records show. Published November 20, 2008

Obama eyes posts for Cleland, Holder

President-elect Barack Obama is shaping his White House staff and policy - considering former Sen. Max Cleland and Eric H. Holder Jr. for top administration posts. Mr. Obama is also promising a global-warming plan. Published November 19, 2008