Jim McElhatton

Man spends four decades in mental hospital after stealing $20 necklace

Franklin H. Frye was charged with stealing a $20 necklace in 1970, and he has spent the better part of his life locked up ever since after being found not guilty by reason of insanity. Published January 22, 2014

Prosecutors fight release of deal talks with Abramoff ally

The Justice Department is trying to block the release of a PowerPoint presentation that convicted lobbyist Kevin Ring is trying to pry loose in order to explore whether prosecutors punish defendants who don't settle on a plea agreement and instead go to court. Published January 20, 2014

Papers of MLK aide Rustin shed new light on march

The historic 1963 March on Washington has come to represent the defining moment of Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights efforts — but much of the actual planning, fundraising and logistics work behind that monumental day fell to a trusted and longtime aide named Bayard Rustin. Published January 19, 2014

New Jersey’s Democratic mayors recall Christie’s outreach, not retribution

The bridge scandal facing Gov. Chris Christie seems to underscore just how intent the Republican governor and his aides were on rounding up Democratic supporters as part of a major show of bipartisanship ahead of a potential 2016 presidential bid. Published January 16, 2014

Details in ‘Stronger than the storm’ ad featuring Chris Christie remain murky

The winning bidder for New Jersey's Superstorm Sandy marketing contract now causing political grief for Gov. Chris Christie added jobs in its proposal that didn't appear on the company's government price list — a move that could have hindered officials trying to evaluate whether the bid was the best deal for taxpayers. Published January 14, 2014

Journalists flock to jobs in Obama administration

From watchdogs to lapdogs, at least 22 former reporters and editors have gobbled up jobs in President Obama's administration. Published January 13, 2014

Obama names former lobbyist Joseph Hezir for finance post at Energy Department

When White House officials announced Joseph Hezir's nomination to oversee finances at the Department of Energy in October, they pointed first to his research work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Published January 9, 2014

Rep. Charlie Rangel files appeal over House censure

Rep. Charles Rangel isn't letting a federal judge have the final word in his recently dismissed lawsuit against the House over a humiliating 2010 censure vote. Published January 8, 2014

Scam artist cons government out of millions of dollars in electronics

In a case that reveals how stunningly easy it can be to dupe the federal government out of millions of dollars, a Los Angeles area man has pleaded guilty to diverting thousands of surplus government computers and other electronics bound for needy schools to sham nonprofits. Published January 7, 2014

Justice Department’s refusal to unseal records in Pollard case holds up parole for spy, lawyer says

Attorneys for Jonathan Pollard are trying to win parole for the convicted spy, but say they're hamstrung by the Justice Department's refusal to unseal records they say could show his life sentence was unfairly influenced by anti-Israeli sentiments of a former Reagan administration defense secretary. Published January 6, 2014

Cash-strapped Postal Service seeks DVD-mail price increase

Companies that rent movie and video games by mail to tens of millions of Americans could see the price of delivery go up if the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service succeeds in a push to change the rules governing DVD mail. Published January 2, 2014

2 top officials at bankrupt Ecotality to get hefty bonuses

Despite a disastrous year for defunct car-charging company Ecotality, which went bankrupt only a few years after winning a $100 million federal grant, two high-level employees soon stand to receive hefty retention bonus payments even though the company has no future. Published December 31, 2013

Obama’s contracting chief uses revolving door for job at reverse-auction company

The White House's contracting policy chief is leaving to take a job at a company that conducts billions of dollars in reverse auctions for federal agencies, raising more concerns about the "revolving door" that President Obama pledged to end between government and special interests. Published December 26, 2013

Ex-lobbyist wants records made public to expose plea deals in Jack Abramoff case

With time running out before he's set to report to federal prison, former lobbyist Kevin Ring wants a federal judge to unseal records in his Jack Abramoff scandal case to shine a light on the hidden workings of how prosecutors cut plea deals. Published December 26, 2013

Obama’s surgeon general nominee connected to left-leaning think tank

The White House has trumpeted President Obama's surgeon general nominee as president of a grass-roots doctors group, but Doctors for America, founded by Dr. Vivek Murthy, is actually a well-connected liberal-leaning operation. Published December 23, 2013

EPA official sentenced for bizarre ‘spy’ ruse

John C. Beale, the former high ranking EPA bureaucrat whose ruse about working as a spy allowed him to collect years of paychecks despite not showing up to work, was sentenced to just over two-and-a-half years in federal prison Wednesday. Published December 18, 2013

Independent counsel eyed in Fast and Furious

House lawyers say Congress could resurrect an independent counsel's office to prosecute "Fast and Furious"-related criminal charges against high-ranking Obama administration officials, according to new court records. Published December 17, 2013

House seeks Fast and Furious gun-walking documents

House lawyers late Monday filed court papers asking a federal judge to force the Justice Department to turn over records to reveal the extent of efforts to stonewall a congressional probe into a botched weapons investigation known as Fast and Furious. Published December 17, 2013

Details emerge on bureaucrat who pretended to be CIA operative

The high-ranking EPA bureaucrat who bilked the agency of more than $800,000 by pretending to be a CIA operative is in therapy trying figure out what — beyond greed — caused him to pull off perhaps the most infamous workplace attendance fraud in government history. Published December 16, 2013

Stung by defeat: SEC hires trial consultants

EXCLUSIVE: Facing a string of recent high-profile courtroom defeats lately, the Securities and Exchange Commission wants to a hire a mock trial firm to help agency lawyers get ready for big cases. Published December 9, 2013