Jim McElhatton

Solaria? Solyndra? Feds bailed on promising solar company, lawsuit says

Solar panel maker Solaria had tens of millions of dollars in private equity lined up in 2011 to finance an overseas expansion, but opted instead to go with an independent federal agency that offered good terms and seemed eager to provide funding. Published December 5, 2013

Last call: State Dept. bought $180,000 in liquor before shutdown

While the rest of the government prepared to shut down this fall, the State Department was busy stocking up on embassy liquor supplies. Published December 2, 2013

Federal prosecutors drop charges against defendants who disappeared

Federal prosecutors want to toss out felony theft charges against a former Georgetown University official accused of stealing $300,000 after entering the country illegally — but not because of lingering doubts about his guilt. Published December 1, 2013

Bankrupt energy company probed

Securities regulators are investigating a green energy company that won a $100 million federal grant under President Obama's stimulus program, only to end up bankrupt this fall. Published November 27, 2013

Wage nominee at Labor also works for AFL-CIO

When the White House nominated David Weil to be in charge of wage enforcement for the Labor Department, officials stressed his weighty academic credentials as a Boston University professor and Harvard University researcher. Published November 26, 2013

Former Time editor Stengel got big bonus while laying off reporters, heading to State Department

Not long before he left his job as managing editor at Time magazine for a post at the State Department, Richard Stengel delivered some bad but not unexpected news — the magazine needed to cut staff to close a budget gap. Published November 24, 2013

Nuclear regulators bypass federal firewalls, find ways to see porn

It's become tougher to surf porn on government computers after scandals, but some workers at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission managed to find ways to bypass detection software and firewalls to get the illicit content, records show. Published November 20, 2013

Gitmo good life: U.S. spends millions on landscaping, art classes for terror detainees

Thanks to a multimillion-dollar federal contract, Guantanamo Bay prisoners can enroll in seminars to learn all about basic landscaping and pruning, calligraphy and Microsoft PowerPoint while the U.S. figures out what to do with them. Published November 18, 2013

Obama slams lobbyists, then hires a lobbyist to help promote Obamacare

On the campaign trail, President Obama vowed that lobbyists would have no place in his administration, but his health care agency last month gave a half-million-dollar grant to a registered lobbying firm to help enroll people for Obamacare as Affordable Care Act "navigators." Published November 14, 2013

WebMD’s healthy deal with Obamacare: Kind words for law, millions from feds

EXCLUSIVE: Two months before enrollment began in the Obamacare exchanges, the administration's top health care official heaped praise on WebMD for launching an online resource to help Americans navigate the complex law. Published November 12, 2013

Congressman gambles with ex-colleague’s words

By his own account, U.S. Rep. Jim Leach's argument against online gambling, which he laid out in a 2006 article, was more factual and perfunctory than soaring political rhetoric. But three years later his words would reappear in print — though under a different name: Rep. Spencer Bachus, an Alabama Republican who was a key ally of Mr. Leach's in opposing online gambling legislation. Published November 11, 2013

Washington Times ends Sen. Rand Paul column amid plagiarism allegations

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul acknowledged Tuesday he had failed to properly source material in published writings, including a column in The Washington Times, after a string of embarrassing plagiarism accusations surfaced in recent days. Published November 5, 2013

Despite sequester, rent checks still flowing to Biden

Vice President Joseph R. Biden has had no qualms collecting the $2,200 a month he charges the Secret Service for its use of a small building on his Delaware property amid the belt-tightening sequester. Published November 4, 2013

Feds tell Trump: No riffraff at new hotel in Old Post Office building

Donald Trump is barred from providing any space inside the Old Post Office building for a male revue, a condom store or — heaven forbid — dentists who work on credit, under terms of one of the most talked-about federal real estate deals in years. Published October 31, 2013

GAO: Thousands of tax deadbeats hold security clearances

Thousands of tax deadbeats exist among the ranks of federal employees and contractors holding national security clearances, but officials have few good ways of finding out about the delinquencies, a government report said Thursday. Published October 31, 2013

Another former Obama administration figure pleads the 5th

In an increasingly familiar scene, a high-ranking former agency official went to Capitol Hill Wednesday and pleaded the Fifth Amendment. Published October 30, 2013

Obama spends heavily on PR firms to polish troubled health care law

The federal Obamacare website has earned plenty of attention in recent weeks, but probably not the kind administration officials envisioned when they hired public relations firms to help promote HealthCare.gov. Published October 29, 2013

Spas and limos? VA work amounted to paid vacation for some feds, House finds

Planners at the Department of Veterans Affairs accepted thousands of dollars in meals, spas, gift baskets and limo and helicopter rides from hotels hoping to host the VA's lavish conference business, a congressional investigation has found. Published October 29, 2013

House lawyers balk at Rangel’s request to settle suit on his censure

House lawyers on Monday balked at a request by Rep. Charles B. Rangel to settle his federal lawsuit against House Speaker John A. Boehner and six other lawmakers over the chamber's censure of him — and a federal quickly judge agreed. Published October 28, 2013

Terry McAuliffe silent on union-connected loan

EXCLUSIVE: Terry McAuliffe has promised voters he is committed to transparency, but in the final days of a Virginia governor's race he leads, the Democrat has steadfastly refused to explain a complicated financial arrangement involving several family trusts and a union-owned insurance and investment company. Published October 24, 2013