Congressional hearings news stories on Newser

GSA Scandal: Jeff Neely Pleads the 5th

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:17:42 CDT

Rep. Darrell Issa said never before in his career had a witness at a government hearing refused to testify. But Jeff Neely, former official at the General Services Administration, invoked his fifth amendment right today during a congressional hearing into the agency's use of $800,000 for a Las Vegas...

CIA to Examine Its Own Ties With NYPD

Kevin Spak — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 14:18:53 CDT

Newly minted CIA director David Petraeus says the agency’s inspector general is investigating the agency’s role in helping the NYPD gather intelligence in Muslim neighborhoods, the AP reports. The NYPD’s unit, revealed in this AP investigation , was set up beginning in 2002 with the help of an agent still on...

Homeland Security Hiding Its Emails: Insiders

Matt Cantor — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 10:30:56 CDT

Homeland Security insiders spent months complaining that top Obama appointees were improperly delaying the release of potentially embarrassing files sought under the Freedom of Information Act. In a raft of uncensored emails obtained by the AP , insiders called the vetting process “meddling," "crazy" and "bananas!” The emails also raise the...

Petraeus: My Son Served in Afghanistan

Kevin Spak — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 13:34:45 CDT

In the midst of an emotional exchange today on Capitol Hill, David Petraeus revealed that his son had recently served a combat tour in Afghanistan, "which thankfully we were able to keep very quiet," the AP reports. Republican Rep. Walter Jones had pressed Petraeus to "be honest" about how long...

Muslim Rep Breaks Down at King Hearing

Kevin Spak — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 11:34:29 CST

Peter King’s hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims got off to an emotional start today, when Rep. Keith Ellison—the first Muslim American elected to Congress—broke down in recounting the story of a Muslim paramedic who died while responding to the 9/11 attacks and was later, according to...

Peter King's Critics Are Too PC

John Johnson — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 12:28:23 CST

OK, Peter King isn't exactly a master of tact, but his upcoming congressional hearing on the radicalization of Muslims in America is both "appropriate" and "important," writes Ruth Marcus. "To ignore the religious nature of the terrorist threat is to succumb to politically correct delusion," she writes in the Washington...

Bigoted Islam Hearings Ditch GOP Values

Matt Cantor — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:13:11 CST

The upcoming House hearings on American Muslim terrorists showcase a bigotry that has seeped through the GOP, writes Peter Beinart for the Daily Beast . Rep. Peter King “isn’t holding hearings on domestic terrorism; he’s holding hearings on domestic terrorism by one religious group,” and that group is not even responsible...

Colbert (Briefly) Breaks Character in Testimony

Kevin Spak — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:45:34 CDT

Stephen Colbert mostly yucked it up during his congressional testimony today, but towards the end, Democrat Judy Chu actually got him to break his faux-pundit facade. After relating the story of a worker overcome by heat stroke, but unable to find medical help, she asked Colbert why he had chosen...

Colbert to Testify Before Congress

Evann Gastaldo — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 08:05:53 CDT

Stephen Colbert is getting serious tomorrow. Or not. The Comedy Central host will testify before Congress during a hearing on immigration , alongside United Farm Workers president Arturo Rodriguez, who appeared on his show in July. Rodriguez talked to Colbert about the UFW’s “Take Our Jobs” campaign, which invited Americans to...