Blog Posts by Chris Moody, Yahoo! News

Site of the bombings at the Boston Marathon. (Boston Globe)

More than a week after two ethnic Chechen men allegedly detonated two deadly bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, a House panel plans to examine Islamist radicalism in Chechnya.

The House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, and the subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats have scheduled a joint hearing on Friday to explore whether the separatist movement in Chechnya—a republic in southwestern Russia—poses a threat to the United States.

At the panel—titled, "Islamist Extremism in Chechnya: A Threat to the U.S. Homeland?"—lawmakers will hear testimony from two experts on the region's politics: professor Paul Globe of the Institute of World Politics and Craig Douglas Albert, assistant professor of political science at Georgia Regents University Augusta.

For many years, ethnic Chechen rebels have tried to assert control of the area, at times using terrorist tactics to fight against the Russian government.

Early reports suggest

Callista Gingrich and Ellis the Elephant (John Moore/Getty Images)

As it turns out, there may be junk in that trunk.

A Republican presidential campaign worker who was charged this week with cyberstalking young women often bragged about about dressing up as "Ellis the Elephant," a character in Callista Gingrich's children's books who would appear during book signings with her husband, former Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.

The FBI on Tuesday accused Adam Savader, a former George Washington University student who worked for Gingrich's presidential campaign and interned for Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, of sending 15 young women anonymous text messages saying he had nude pictures of them and that he would forward them to their family and friends if they did not send him more pictures.

According to a sworn affidavit filed in Michigan last week, Savader allegedly obtained nude pictures of some of the women and posted them without their consent on photo-sharing websites. Savader used the Google Voice program to shield his

Authorities are investigating whether a poisonous substance was sent to a U.S. military base in Washington, D.C., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Tuesday.

Reid told reporters there was "an alleged ricin incident" at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, which serves the Navy and Air Force and is located in the southeastern part of the city.

A spokesman for the Defense Intelligence Agency confirmed that a mail screening detected a "potentially harmful substance" at the base.

"This morning, DIA security personnel detected a potentially harmful substance during routine screening of incoming mail," DIA spokesman Lt. Col. Thomas F. Veale told Yahoo News in an email. "Tests by experts called in to assist indicate possible biological toxins. Prudent screening methods and force protection measures were implemented to prevent personnel from being harmed. DIA has maintained normal operations, and will not comment further on this event until an investigation is complete."

The news comes just

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

The Boston Marathon bombings allegedly carried out by legal immigrants from Eastern Europe do not have "any relevance" to the ongoing debate over how to overhaul the nation's immigration system, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, a Democrat of Maryland, said on Tuesday.

"Those that try to make a connection between the two are not right," Hoyer told reporters during a weekly briefing

After two bombs exploded at the Boston Marathon last week, some Republicans called for delaying movement on the new federal immigration bill that a bipartisan group of senators unveiled on Wednesday morning.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is currently conducting a series of hearings about the bill to examine how it will affect the economy, border enforcement and immigrants living illegally in the United States. During one of those hearings on Monday, a discussion over whether the bombings should influence the immigration bill's progress became heated when New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer claimed some

Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus will not seek re-election next year, the senator announced on Tuesday.

"I have decided not to seek reelection in 2014," Baucus said in a statement. "I will serve out my term, and then it will be time to go home to Montana."

Baucus plans to fulfill his sixth term in the chamber and will step down before the next session in 2015. The lawmaker chairs the powerful Senate Committee on Finance, and he played an influential role in writing the federal health care law that passed in 2010.

Baucus had deeply angered the White House in recent days, first by opposing bipartisan legislation to enhance background checks of would-be gun purchasers. Baucus’ “no” vote helped kill the background check measure, and he was among the lawmakers President Barack Obama targeted with a blistering Rose Garden tirade against “shameful” inside-the-Beltway politics.

“There were no coherent arguments as to why we wouldn’t do this,” Obama said. “It came down to politics—the worry

South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images)

Even though the man suspected of detonating two bombs during the Boston Marathon has already received his Miranda rights, South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham Monday continued to press for the suspect to be "interrogated" and treated as an "enemy combatant" for intelligence-gathering purposes. But Graham said the information gathered shouldn't be used in court because the suspect is a U.S. citizen.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, a 19-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen born in Kyrgyzstan, was charged Monday in federal court for last week's bombing, which he allegedly set off with his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26. Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed last week during a police search for the suspects.

The Justice Department has declined to treat Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as an enemy combatant, which would have allowed authorities to question him without an attorney present.

"I strongly disagree with the Obama administration's decision to rule out the enemy combatant status for the suspect at this time. I

(Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

A discussion over whether the deadly bombings in Boston, allegedly by two brothers who emigrated from Eastern Europe, should influence the immigration reform debate led to a shouting match Monday among senators working on the proposal.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing about the proposed immigration bill, New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer suggested that some were using last week's bombing at the Boston Marathon as "an excuse" to delay the bill. Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley had evoked the bombing during a discussion about the legislation at a separate hearing on Friday.

"The American people are overwhelmingly in favor of immigration reform," Schumer said during the hearing. "That's what every poll says."

Sitting to his right on the panel, Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions interrupted Schumer midsentence to ask if he could make a counterpoint.

"Will the senator yield?" Sessions asked.

"No, I will not," Schumer responded.

"Will the senator yield?" Sessions

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio surrounded by other "Gang of 8" members. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The new Senate immigration bill has been public for less than a week, and Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio already is playing defense against conservatives and members of his own party who are pushing back hard.

Rubio established himself as the point man for the bill with the conservative movement earlier this year when he gave interviews to the nation's top right-leaning radio and television programs in January and again when the bill was unveiled. But as details emerge, conservative journalists, pundits and bloggers are coming down hard on the Florida lawmaker for taking part in crafting the bill. Armed with opposition research from Republican lawmakers who oppose the bill, organizations with a broad conservative following, such as National Review, Breitbart News, the Heritage Foundation and The Washington Examiner, are regularly accusing Rubio of misleading the public about the bill, and they are working to drum up early opposition against it from the right.

For Rubio, the