Rita Braver (born April 12, 1948) is an American retired television news correspondent, who worked with

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

, and who is best known for her investigative journalism of White House scandals such as the Iran-Contra affair. __NOTOC__

Biography

Rita Lynn Braver was born to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family on April 12, 1948, and raised in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...

. Her father died while she was a teenager.CBS News: "Rita Braver's Mother's Day wish" by Rita Braver
June 4, 2012 She has two sisters: Bettie Braver Sugar and Sharon Braver Cohen. She graduated from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

with a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, and spent a few years at

WWL-TV WWL-TV (channel 4) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Slidell, Louisiana, Slidell-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WUPL (channel 54). The two stations share st ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

as a copy girl before moving to Washington, D.C., with her husband and joining CBS in 1972 as a producer.The Washingtonian: "Bob Barnett: Master of the Game - If you’re a big name in Washington, odds are Bob Barnett has done a deal or made a connection for you. If he hasn’t, you can always hope" by Kim Eisler
December 1, 2008 From 1983–1993, Braver served as CBS News's chief law correspondent. She broke the story of the John Walker spy ring, as well as that of another spy, Jonathan Pollard. She also led CBS's coverage of the Iran-Contra affair. She served as CBS's chief

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

correspondent during

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

's first term, and since 1998 has been chief national correspondent for '' Sunday Morning''. She retired from CBS News on March 30, 2025.

Personal life

On April 10, 1972, Braver married Washington, D.C., lawyer Robert B. BarnettNew York Times: "Despite Disclosure, a CBS Report Raises Questions" by Jacques Steinberg
October 11, 2007 (born 1946) whom she met in college. They have a daughter, Meredith Jane Barnett (born 1978), who married Daniel Ross Penn in a

ceremony in Washington D.C. on April 6, 2008.New York Times: "Meredith Barnett, Daniel Penn"
April 6, 2008

References

External links

Articles at ''HuffPost''Profile at CBS News
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Braver, Rita Living people American television reporters and correspondents Jewish American journalists University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni CBS News people 1948 births Journalists from Silver Spring, Maryland American women television journalists Journalists from Washington, D.C. Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women