Ali Watkins
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Ali Watkins (born 27 October 1991) is an American journalist who writes for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Along with two colleagues, she was a finalist for the 2015
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
for a body of work consisting 10 articles spanning from March 3, 2014, to July 14, 2014. Watkins has worked for a number of publications, including ''
BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet mass media, media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Seward Johnson III, John S. Johnson III to ...
'', ''Politico'', McClatchy, ''The Huffington Post'', and the ''
Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', a daily newspaper in Philadelphia. The ''Dail ...
''. Since 2023, Watkins has worked as a reporter for the breaking and trending news operation of the ''New York Times'' in Europe, based in London.


Early life and education

Watkins was born and raised in
Berks County, Pennsylvania Berks County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the coun ...
and attended Fleetwood High School in
Fleetwood, Pennsylvania Fleetwood, also called :pdc:Schlegelschteddel, ''Schlegelschteddel'' in Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch, is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,049 at the 2020 cens ...
. She is a graduate of
Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...
, where she was a news editor for ''
The Temple News ''The Temple News'' (''TTN'') is the editorially independent bi-weekly newspaper of Temple University. It prints 2,000 copies to be distributed primarily on Temple's Main Campus every other Tuesday. A staff of 36, supported by more than 150 writ ...
''.


Career

In 2014, while she was still a senior in college, Watkins broke a national story about the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
monitoring
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
computers while the
Senate Intelligence Committee The United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (sometimes referred to as the Intelligence Committee or SSCI) is dedicated to overseeing the United States Intelligence Community—the agencies and bureaus of the federal government of ...
was preparing a report on the CIA's detention and interrogation program. For their work on the story, Watkins and two other journalists were named as finalists for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in National Reporting. Watkins' scoop was at the core of the 2019 movie '' The Report'', but her role was "elided." Watkins' career progression has been characterized as "meteoric" by ''The Times'' of London and "stunning" by ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', and she has been called a "hotshot" by
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
. In April 2017, in what ''The New York Times'' called "a scoop that other news organizations scrambled to match" and ''The Washington Post'' said was a "big story," Watkins broke a story about the 2013 meetings between CIA asset
Carter Page Carter William Page (born June 3, 1971) is an American petroleum industry consultant and a former foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential election campaign. Page is the founder and managing partner of Global Energy C ...
and a Russian spy. For several years, Watkins'
beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...
was the Senate Intelligence Committee. At ''The New York Times'', where she was hired in December 2017, Watkins covered national security and law-enforcement agencies from its Washington, D.C. bureau until July 2018. In July 2018, the ''Times'' reassigned Watkins to the New York office, where she covers crime and law enforcement in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
at the ''Times'' Metro desk. The ''Times'' explained the reasons for her reassignment: "We are troubled by Ali's conduct, particularly while she was employed by other news organizations ..For a reporter to have an intimate relationship with someone he or she covers is unacceptable." Watkins relocated to
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
.


Wolfe case

From December 2013 to December 2017, Watkins was in a romantic relationship with the former head of security for the Senate Intelligence Committee, James A. Wolfe. The FBI opened an investigation into Wolfe after an April 2017 article by Watkins described contacts between Russian spies and
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
policy adviser
Carter Page Carter William Page (born June 3, 1971) is an American petroleum industry consultant and a former foreign-policy adviser to Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential election campaign. Page is the founder and managing partner of Global Energy C ...
, who had not been publicly identified in relation to those contacts and who was working for the CIA at the time of the meetings. On October 15, 2018, Wolfe pleaded guilty to one count of lying to the FBI about his relationship with Watkins. Prosecutors alleged that Wolfe leaked to Watkins and three other reporters. Watkins denied that Wolfe ever provided her classified information. Watkins disclosed the relationship to her employers BuzzFeed News, ''The New York Times'', and ''Politico''; however, McClatchy editors said they were ignorant of the relationship while Watkins was an intern and employee from mid-2013 through 2014. Following the Wolfe relationship, Watkins dated another Senate Intelligence Committee staff member, which Politico, her employer at the time, has said she failed to disclose. Former ''New York Times'' editor
Jill Abramson Jill Ellen Abramson (born March 19, 1954) is an American author, journalist, and academic. She is best known as the former executive editor of ''The New York Times''; Abramson held that position from September 2011 to May 2014. She was the first ...
said “I hate the whole situation more than I can say,” because she had spent her whole career trying to combat the notion that successful female journalists sleep with their sources. ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
'' reported that the case "bears a strong resemblance to the television drama
House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a struc ...
," of which it said Watkins was a fan. In 2019,
Erik Wemple Erik Wemple is an American journalist who works as a columnist and media critic at ''The Washington Post''. He was formerly the editor of the alternative weekly ''Washington City Paper''. Since 2017, Wemple has been known for feuding with former ...
of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' compared Watkins to Amanda Macias, as did Stephen L. Miller of ''
The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...
''.


Operation Whistle Pig

In 2017, Jeffrey Rambo, a
U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilita ...
agent working for the National Targeting Center, investigated Watkins, other journalists including
Martha Mendoza Martha Mendoza (born August 16, 1966) is an Associated Press journalist whose reporting has helped free over 2,000 enslaved fishermen and prompted action by the U.S. Congress and the White House.  She earned her first Pulitzer Prize in the Inves ...
, and
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
s while on an assignment to combat forced labor in the Congo. The operation was called "Whistle Pig" and in addition to its own database trawling it got the CBP’s Counter Network Division to provide information about Watkins' mother and brother and links to their public profiles, as well as details of Watkins’ domestic and international travel. Rambo met Watkins under the fictitious name Jack Bentley, but Watkins obtained his real name from a credit card receipt. Watkins perceived Rambo's approach as a threat. In 2021, Watkins said: “I’m deeply troubled at the lengths CBP and DHS personnel apparently went to try and identify journalistic sources and dig into my personal life.” A few days later, CBP launched an investigation.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Ali Living people The New York Times people 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists Temple University alumni 1992 births Journalistic scandals