Nicole Duran

Read the latest stories and analysis from Nicole Duran.

"It doesn't withstand scrutiny," President Obama's spokesman Josh Earnest said on Thursday. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WH official: GOP candidates made 2016 ugly

Nicole Duran · August 26, 2016 5:38 pm

The White House wouldn't confirm whether the U.S. pays third-party countries to take detainees released from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay. (AP Photo/Ben Fox)

White House won’t say if it pays countries to take Gitmo prisoners

Nicole Duran · August 26, 2016 5:09 pm

Federal law holds that Guantanamo Bay detainees cannot be moved back to the U.S., and essentially prevents the facility from being closed. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

National Security

Gitmo closure plan eludes White House

Nicole Duran · August 26, 2016 4:01 am

The Obama administration is refusing to say which country helped it carry out a $1.3 billion payment to Iran to settle a long-standing legal dispute and ensure that American prisoners held by Iran were released. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

National Security

White House won’t out country that facilitated Iran payment

Nicole Duran · August 25, 2016 6:21 pm

The National Republican Congressional Committee wasted no time in blasting vulnerable Democrats for Joe Biden's pledge, such as Rep. Rick Nolan, D-Minn. (AP Photo)

GOP hits vulnerable Dems over Biden’s Gitmo remark

Nicole Duran · August 25, 2016 5:05 pm

President Obama last year directed the Labor Department to issue rules that would allow states to create retirement plans independent of national ones without running afoul of federal laws. (AP Photo)

Obama administration finalizes state-based retirement plan rules

Nicole Duran · August 25, 2016 3:55 pm

President Obama is hoping to unleash his horde of grassroots supporters on behalf of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

Obama asks 50,000 of his volunteers to aid Clinton

Nicole Duran · August 25, 2016 3:52 pm

During a Thursday news conference in Stockholm with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, Biden said he will meet with leaders interested in advancing cancer research during the U.N. General Assembly. (AP Photo)

Biden says a number of nations have signed on to the cancer ‘moonshot’

Nicole Duran · August 25, 2016 3:22 pm

Vice President Joe Biden said he expects the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be closed when he and President Obama exit office at the end of January. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

National Security

Biden expects Guantanamo to close by January

Nicole Duran · August 25, 2016 2:36 pm

The determination was made after a year-long investigation and was released the same day reports surfaced that Bashar Assad may still have some chemical weapons. (SANA via AP, File)

National Security

U.N.: Assad gassed civilians

Nicole Duran · August 24, 2016 11:40 pm

President Obama and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will headline two of Washington's biggest minority galas next month. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Obama, Clinton to headline minority congressional events next month

Nicole Duran · August 24, 2016 9:29 pm

Vice President Joe Biden said he would rather controversial Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen live somewhere other than the U.S. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Biden wishes exiled Turkish cleric lived outside U.S.

Nicole Duran · August 24, 2016 8:26 pm