David Fahrenthold
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David A. Fahrenthold (born 1978) 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 ...
.'' Previously he wrote for ''
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 ...
''. He has also served as a political analyst for
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
and
MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
. In 2017, he was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily ...
for his coverage of
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 ...
and his alleged charitable givings, including the
2016 United States presidential election United States presidential election, Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 8, 2016. The Republican Party (United States), Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana Governor, Indiana governor Mike P ...
.


Early life and education

Fahrenthold was born to Jeane and Peter Fahrenthold of
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, Texas. His mother is a teacher at Bunker Hill Elementary School (Texas) and his father a director of risk management. He was raised
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
. He attended Memorial High School, where he wrote for the student newspaper, ''Anvil'', and was the captain of the 1996 academic challenge national championship team. Fahrenthold attended
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, where he wrote for ''
The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper at Harvard University, an Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The newspaper was founded in 1873, and is run entirely by Harvard College undergraduate students. His ...
'' student newspaper. He graduated
magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
in 2000 with a degree in history.


Career

Fahrenthold joined the staff 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 ...
'' in 2000, where he has covered the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Congress, and the federal government. He later covered the
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
region and environmental issues for the ''Post'' before moving onto the political team in 2010. He was a
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
contributor from January 2017 to February 2018, when he became a political analyst for
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
and
MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
. In January 2022, Fahrenthold tweeted that he had started working at ''
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 ...
'' "as an investigative reporter focused on the world of nonprofits."


2016 presidential election

According to a 2018 study, Fahrentold was the third-most frequently mentioned individual or organization in Twitter discussions about Trump during the 2016 election, behind Trump himself and CNN.


Reporting on Donald Trump donation claims and the Trump Foundation

Fahrenthold covered the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, reporting on the Donald J. Trump Foundation as well as claims Trump made as the 2016 Republican nominee that he had given away millions out of his own pocket. In May 2016, Fahrenthold began an effort to verify Trump had made these personal donations. To solicit leads and for transparency, he periodically posted updates to
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via a handwritten list of charities he had contacted to ask whether they had received contributions from Trump, as well as the charities' responses. After four months, Fahrenthold and colleagues at the ''Post'' had contacted more than 400 major charities, with only one charity confirming they had received a personal donation from Trump between 2008 and May 2016 when Fahrenthold began publicly reporting on the question. Following Fahrenthold's reporting, the
New York attorney general The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has existed in various forms since 1626, originally established under the Dutch c ...
opened an inquiry into the Trump Foundation's fundraising practices, and ultimately issued a "notice of violation" ordering the Foundation to stop raising money in New York. The Poynter Institute described Fahrenthold as "one of the journalism stars of the 2016 campaign due to a string of revelations about Donald Trump's charitable giving (or lack of same)".
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
senior media correspondent
Brian Stelter Brian Patrick Stelter (born September 3, 1985) is an American journalist best known as the former chief media correspondent for CNN and host of the CNN program ''Reliable Sources'', roles he held from 2013 to 2022. He returned to CNN in 2024. St ...
said: "Some have dubbed ahrenthold's workPulitzer worthy. Its impact was reinforced on Tuesday eptember 13, 2016when President Obama cited the reporting while stumping for
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
." On April 10, 2017, Fahrenthold won the
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 National Reporting for his work on Donald Trump's charity claims casting "doubt on Donald Trump's assertions of generosity toward charities".


Reporting on the Trump ''Access Hollywood'' video

On October 7, 2016, Fahrenthold broke news of a 2005 ''
Access Hollywood ''Access Hollywood'', briefly known as ''Access'' from 2017 to 2019, is an American weekday television entertainment news program that premiered on September 9, 1996. It covers events and celebrities in the entertainment industry. It was create ...
''
video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...
recording
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 ...
making what ''
Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...
'' characterized as "lewd comments about groping women"; among other remarks, Trump said that his celebrity allowed him to "grab them by the pussy" without consequence. An unnamed source called Fahrenthold at 11 that morning and informed him of the tape's existence; at 4 that afternoon, Fahrenthold published the tape and a reported story on it in ''The Washington Post''. The newspaper said it became "the most concurrently viewed article in the history of The Post’s website". The story broke two days before the second of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign debates between Trump and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Staff at ''Access Hollywood'', owned by
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
, had found the tape earlier in the week, and the show was working on a story but did not plan to run it until the following Monday, the day after the debate. Once Fahrenthold broke the story at the ''Post'', both ''Access Hollywood'' and
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
ran stories the same night.


Reporting on Secret Service payments to the Trump Organization

In August 2020, Fahrenthold and other ''Washington'' ''Post'' reporters published an investigative journalism piece showing that the Secret Service spent more than $900,000 at properties owned by Trump during his presidency. After the reporting, White House spokesperson Judd Deere said the White House was building a "dossier" on Fahrenthold.


Personal life

In 2005, Fahrenthold married Elizabeth Lewis; the two met while attending Harvard. Lewis's father is Harry R. Lewis, computer science professor and former dean of
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...
; her mother is Marlyn McGrath Lewis, former director of admissions for Harvard College.


Awards

* 2017 –
Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting This Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs in the United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily ...
($15,000) * 2017 - Toner Prize for Excellence in Political Reporting ($5,000) * 2017 - Hillman Prize for Newspaper Journalism


Books

* *


References


External links


David Fahrenthold
at ''The Washington Post'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fahrenthold, David 1978 births Living people 21st-century American journalists The Harvard Crimson people MSNBC people NBC News people Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting winners The Washington Post journalists Journalists from Houston Memorial High School (Hedwig Village, Texas) alumni