James LaPorta

Staff Writer

James LaPorta is a staff writer and investigative reporter covering national security with an emphasis on the Department of Defense. Prior to joining Newsweek in 2018, his past bylines, work, and commentary have appeared on and in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Daily Beast, CBS News, CNN, MSNBC, among others. Before transitioning to journalism in 2014, Mr. LaPorta served in the U.S. Marine Corps within the infantry and intelligence communities. He is a veteran of the Afghanistan war.

  
 World
 Should U.S. Be Trusted on Iran? Israel Gave Missile Reports, Experts Wary “Be on the lookout for Iraq 2.0 justifications. I’m not even kidding,” one U.S. military official told Newsweek.
  
 U.S.
 Trump Administration Prepares Multiple Military Options for Iran Conflict  The plans are separated into two categories and involve airstrikes, targeted incursions and setting U.S. forces up for a ground invasion.
  
 U.S.
 Trump Administration Restricts Congressional Travel to Afghanistan While not uncommon, the request comes at a moment of high tension in Washington as Democrats grow increasingly frustrated by what they view as the Trump administration's obstruction of their...
  
 U.S.
 Trump’s Pardon of Ex-Soldier Raises Questions About Other War Crime Cases “It’s a complete disregard for the judgment of those leaders who were put there to hear all the evidence and decided whether somebody was a murderer or not,” said a lawyer who specializes in U.S....
  
 U.S.
 House Bill Could Allow Troops to Sue Military for Medical Malpractice A new bill in Congress could finally allow U.S. service members to sue the military in cases of medical malpractice.
  
 U.S.
 Sexual Assaults in Military Surge to Over 20,000, Says Pentagon Report  The numbers from 2018 paint a bleak picture of a U.S. military culture that has left senior Defense Department officials grappling to find effective methods to stem the surge of assaults.
  
 U.S.
 Exclusive: Intel Report Refutes Trump Claim About Terrorist Border Threat The report does suggest that violence from Mexican cartels against Defense Department personnel working on the southwest border could increase.
  
 U.S.
 Mexican Soldiers Disarmed U.S. Army Troops at Border Confusion over where the U.S.-Mexico border begins and ends led to Mexican soldiers temporarily detaining U.S. soldiers who believed they were in Mexican territory when they were in U.S. territory.
  
 U.S.
 Exclusive: Trump Orders Thousands More Troops to Border Defense Department documents obtained by Newsweek show a troop surge at the southwest border, a request made by the White House amid President Donald Trump’s renewed push to stem the flow of...
  
 U.S.
 Marines Killed By Car Bomb In Afghanistan Identified The Pentagon identified three U.S. Marines killed in Afghanistan on Monday after their convoy was attacked by a Taliban militant driving a car rigged with explosives.
  
 U.S.
 Car Bomb Kills Three U.S. Troops in Afghanistan  The three American service members died after their military convoy was struck by a suicide bomber.
  
 U.S.
 Damaged Bases Receive Recovery Funds; More Needed The total damage to the Marine Corps installations was estimated at $3.5 billion. The Corps had been self-funding the recovery efforts.
  
 U.S.
 Generals Celebrated Leak Amid Growing Frustrations One general in attendance said, “This is something that you go to the mat over. Your Marines and their families.”
  
 U.S.
 Top Marine General Let Emails Leak, Sources Say “He didn’t want the Marines and families at Lejeune to get f***ed,” one Defense Department source said of the reason why General Robert Neller allowed the emails to leak.
  
 U.S.
 Medal of Honor Recipient Saved Three From Iraqi Bomber “I want him to be remembered as the best father that anyone could ask for, and also at the same time being the best soldier that anyone could ask for," said the son of a soldier set to receive the...
  
 U.S.
 House Armed Services Denies Border Wall Request House lawmakers denied a Pentagon request to shift $1 billion from the Defense Department to fund President Donald Trump’s southern border wall.
  
 U.S.
 An Embattled Special Forces Unit Suffers More Losses  “I’m sad that I’m losing track of all the people I know who have been killed in action. I’m sad and angry,” said a former U.S. Army EOD soldier. “I’m sad that he’s gone and angry that I can’t...
  
 U.S.
 Trump on ISIS Fighters: Were They Killed or Captured? President Donald Trump said U.S. forces had killed the militants responsible for the January suicide bombing in Syria that claimed the lives of 19 people, among them four Americans, a day after...
  
 U.S.
 Pentagon Mail Facility Evacuated “We can confirm the Pentagon mail facility received a suspicious package,” said Army Lieutenant Colonel Audricia Harris, a Defense Department spokeswoman.
  
 World
 U.S.-Backed Forces Capture ISIS Fighters in Syria Suspects believed to be responsible for the January bombing that killed 19 people, including four American Defense Department officials, in Syria, have been captured.
  
 U.S.
 U.S. Soldiers Accused of Selling Weapons to Cartel Sources told Newsweek that the U.S. Army attempted to keep the incident quiet since the soldiers’ arrest last November.
  
 U.S.
 Marine's Death Reveals Military Failures “He dies every day...I’m just replaying the build-up,” Lynda Kiernan told Newsweek.
  
 U.S.
 Top Air Force General: No Threat on Southern Border The general in charge of U.S. military operations in North America dodged questions Tuesday on what specific threat at the southern border justifies President Trump declaring a national emergency.
  
 World
 Military Probe: Did Army Officials Pocket $1 Million?  A U.S. State Department report has accused officials at U.S. Army Europe of trying to cover up the “gross mismanagement” of more than $1.4 million in American taxpayer dollars.
  
 U.S.
 Former John Kelly Aide Considering 2020 Senate Run As the 2020 political campaigns begin to heat up the D.C. beltway, a retired U.S. Marine colonel considers a run for Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat.
  
 U.S.
 Ex-Marine Officer Headed to Prison for Revenge Porn A U.S. District Court sentenced an ex-U.S. Marine reserve officer to almost three years in prison on felony cyberstalking charges last week.
  
 U.S.
 Green Beret Killed in Afghanistan On Wednesday, the Pentagon identified the second American to be killed in Afghanistan since President Donald Trump ordered a withdrawal of roughly 7,000 American forces from the region.
  
 U.S.
 U.S. Army Ranger Killed in Afghanistan U.S. Army Sergeant Cameron A. Meddock, whose wife was expecting their first child, was on his second deployment to Afghanistan.
  
 U.S.
 3 Americans Killed in Syria Suicide Bombing Identified The bombing came just weeks after President Donald Trump declared victory over ISIS and ordered a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria.
  
 U.S.
 Military Border Mission Could Cost $470 Million in 2019 The deployment of active-duty U.S. troops and National Guard forces to the U.S.-Mexico has been extended to September 30.
  
 U.S.
 Trump Wants End to Wars, but Military Calls It Illusion The president wants to end America’s endless wars. Members of the military don’t disagree. They just wonder how best to withdraw—and what they fought for.
  
 U.S.
 Trump's Video Did Not Violate Security Protocols Typically, the Defense Department does not usually discuss specific special operation units and where they are working at any given time out of operational security concerns.