Copy boy at The New York Times, 1942. (Library of Congress)
Investigative news revelations broke last week one after another like incoming waves before a big storm. The Washington Post reported that President Trump shared highly classified intelligence with Russian diplomats. Then, it was The New York Times revealing former FBI Director James Comey’s memo about Trump’s efforts to discourage the Michael Flynn investigation. Midweek, a Reuters exclusive uncovered that Flynn and other Trump campaign advisers exchanged at least 18 calls and emails to Russian officials during the campaign. By Friday, The New York Times broke the news that Trump told the Russians he fired the “nut job” Comey to ease pressure on the investigation. And that wasn’t all; The Washington Post hit again with the news that someone high up in the administration was a person of interest in the Russia probe.
If you are exhausted by the onslaught, just think about the 11 reporters who broke those five stories. And they weren’t alone last week; there were plenty of other reporters uncovering equally hard-earned stories on other fronts. As Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron said in a recent interview, investigative reporters have specific traits: They are curious and skeptical, meticulous and dogged; they cannot be intimidated by powerful people; and they have “an instinct for where there might be wrongdoing.”
We encourage you to get to know these reporters by name and to follow their reporting, past and present.
Trump revealed highly classified information to Russian foreign minister and ambassador
— The Washington Post
(May 15, 2017)
Greg Miller has covered national intelligence for The Washington Post for seven years, and has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He was previously at the Los Angeles Times, where he uncovered secret US payments to Pakistani intelligence and the Bush administration’s use of an unreliable informant code-named “Curveball” during the run-up to the Iraq War.
Greg Jaffe covers the military, the White House and national affairs. He joined The Post eight years ago from The Wall Street Journal, where he shared a Pulitzer Prize for a series about defense spending.
Comey Memo Says Trump Asked Him to End Flynn Investigation— The New York Times
(May 16, 2017)
Michael Schmidt began in sports, and at age 25 broke story after story about the use of performance enhancing drugs in baseball — exposing David Ortiz, Sammy Sosa and Manny Ramirez. As a war correspondent in Iraq, he uncovered classified documents about Marines killing Iraqi civilians in Haditha. In 2015, Schmidt was among the first to break the story that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had used a personal email account for official business.
Exclusive: Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians: sources
— Reuters
(May 18, 2017)
Ned Parker was Reuters’ Bagdad bureau chief for years. In 2015, he was forced to flee for his life when his reporting on human rights abuses drew death threats.
Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel are longtime reporting partners. When they worked for Knight Ridder, (which became McClatchy) their exceptional and skeptical reporting on bogus intelligence bucked the pervasive drumbeat that led to the Iraq War. Landay was a Pulitzer finalist in 2014 for reporting on the CIA’s torture program.
Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation
— The New York Times
(May 19, 2017)
Matt Apuzzo has covered the Russia story for months, breaking the news last February that US intelligence agencies had records of Trump aides talking to Russian operatives during the campaign. He joined The New York Times in 2014 after years of reporting on the CIA, secret prisons, terrorism and the FBI for the Associated Press. He won a Pulitzer Prize for exposing that the NYPD spied on Muslim Americans after 9/11.
Maggie Haberman is a second-generation New York Times journalist. Her father, Clyde Haberman, was a longtime foreign correspondent and columnist. She’s covered Donald Trump since the early 2000s, first for the New York Post and then for The New York Daily News, when, she says, “he moved out of being a real estate developer and into the celebrity realm.” She also closely covered Hillary Clinton during five years at Politico.
Matthew Rosenberg has been based in Washington, DC covering intelligence and national security ever since he was accused of espionage and kicked out of Afghanistan in 2014 for writing about the discussions of high-ranking officials in the middle of an electoral crisis. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize as part of a team covering the Islamic State.
Russia probe reaches current White House official, people familiar with the case say
— The Washington Post
(May 19, 2017)
Devlin Barrett just joined The Washington Post in March, after working for 15 years with The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press. His reporting at The Journal included how the Hillary Clinton email investigation divided the FBI in the months leading to the 2016 election.
Matt Zapotosky covers the Justice Department for The Washington Post’s national security team. He launched his journalism career covering local law enforcement and federal courts.
In the moments when the reporting on President Trump’s murky ties to Russia ebbs, it is important to follow the reporters who are tirelessly pursuing other channels. At The Intercept, for example.
Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas Has a Problem with Science — and with Voters
— The Intercept
(May 20, 2017)
Sharon Lerner covers environmental toxins and health and has written for numerous publications including The Nation, The New York Times and The Washington Post Her series “The Teflon Toxin” was a National Magazine Award finalist.
As Trump Travels to Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s DC Lobbying Surge Is Paying Off
— The Intercept
(May 19, 2017)
Lee Fang follows the money, investigating how organized interest groups influence public policy. He’s spent years watchdogging the Koch brothers, revealing their early financing of the tea party movement. Fang also co-founded RepublicReport.org, a blog that covers political corruption.
