If Martha Dodd Stern had been a minimally important or competent Soviet spy, her story would make a rip-roaring Hollywood movie. But despite Brendan McNally’s effort to inflate the damage she did to American interests—Traitor’s Odyssey: The Untold Story of Martha Dodd and a Strange Saga of Soviet Espionage—the fact remains that her career as
In the years on either side of General Petraeus’s surge (2008) I spent many a month living in Baghdad covering culture for the Wall Street Journal’s arts section. That meant abiding not in the secure Green Zone but out among the locals—very rare for outsiders—unarmed, unembedded, and frequently exposed to the city’s turbulence in search
JERUSALEM—Donald Trump named more than half a dozen pro-Israel hawks to key foreign policy roles this week, reassuring Israelis that the president-elect’s incoming administration will be as supportive as his first. Trump’s picks largely ended talk in Israel that MAGA isolationism could weaken U.S. backing of the Jewish state. Israeli commentators hailed the roster—led by
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped Florida senator Marco Rubio (R.) to lead the State Department. Rubio is, among other things, a full-spectrum opponent of China’s nefarious activities, and the news of his nomination dismayed the soft-on-China crowd. He is also tough on Iran and should focus America’s diplomats on promoting the nation’s interests rather
House Democrats are frustrated with former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) for her public comments on her party’s campaign failures, saying she’s undermining the leadership of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.), Axios reported. “She needs to take a seat,” a senior Democratic lawmaker told Axios. A member of the Congressional Black Caucus
The changes at DHS suggest some career staff hope to avoid antagonizing incoming Trump appointees Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas (Getty Images) The Department of Homeland Security is rolling back progressive internal policies in anticipation of a second Trump presidency, according to internal agency documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. One example, described as
Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia says she can defy court because ‘people violate laws any time they want’ (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) urged voters to “reject extremism at the ballot box” last year by electing fellow Democrat Diane Ellis-Marseglia for Bucks County commissioner. Now, Ellis-Marseglia is openly defying Pennsylvania law to