The House Speaker and the "Hit Man"
A Republican state lawmaker devised a bribery scheme that ended in a trial and a death — and showed why corruption has become harder to prosecute.
Ian MacDougall
Selected Writing
Courting Disaster
Why liberals should give up on the judiciary.
Empty Suits
In Uniontown — a whistle-stop in Alabama’s Black Belt — an object lesson in defamation law and the rising price of dissent in America.
How the Trump Administration Went Easy on Small-Town Police Abuses
On Louisiana’s Cajun Prairie, broken promises by the U.S. Justice Department leave the town of Ville Platte resigned to a future of arbitrary imprisonment.
The Leak Prosecution That Lost the Space Race
The forgotten tale of a whistleblower, a muckraker, Wernher von Braun & the Sputnik launch.
Providence, You’re Looking Good
A mob boss in winter, a city ascendant & the confounding legacy of Mayor Buddy Cianci.
Selected Features & Essays
- The House Speaker and the "Hit Man," The New York Times Magazine, January 2024
- The Norwegian Town Where Anyone Might Be a Spy, The Economist's 1843 Magazine, August 2023
- Supreme Risk: An Interactive Guide to Rights the Supreme Court Has Established—And Could Take Away, ProPublica, June 2023
- What's Really at Stake in a Politically Charged Supreme Court Case on Elections, ProPublica, November 2022
- Courting Disaster, Harper's Magazine, October 2022 (cover story for the October 2022 issue of Harper's)
- The Supreme Court Is Back in Session. Here's What to Expect, ProPublica, October 2022
- A Firm Hand, Harper's Magazine, January 2022
- A Libertarian Startup City in Honduras Faces Its Biggest Hurdle: The Locals, Rest of World, October 2021
- McKinsey Never Told the FDA It Was Working for Opioid Makers While Also Working for the Agency, ProPublica, October 2021
- Citing this story, a bipartisan coalition of U.S. senators in March 2022 introduced a bill aimed at combating conflicts of interest among federal contractors. Read about the bill here.
- How McKinsey Is Making $100 Million (and Counting) Advising on the Government's Bumbling Coronavirus Response, ProPublica, July 2020
- Bill Barr Promised to Release Prisoners Threatened by Coronavirus—Even as the Feds Secretly Made It Harder for Them to Get Out, ProPublica, May 2020
- "I Do Not Want to Die in Here": Letters From the Houston Jail, ProPublica, May 2020
- How McKinsey Helped the Trump Administration Carry Out Its Immigration Policies, The New York Times & ProPublica, December 2019
- New York City Paid McKinsey Millions to Stem Jail Violence. Instead, Violence Soared, ProPublica, December 2019
- How McKinsey Makes Its Own Rules, The New York Times & ProPublica, December 2019
- The Country That Exiled McKinsey, ProPublica, May 2019
- How the Trump Administration Went Easy on Small-Town Police Abuses, ProPublica, August 2018
- Behind the Criminal Immigration Law, Eugenics and White Supremacy, ProPublica, June 2018
- Empty Suits, Harper's Magazine, March 2018
- The Failure of New York’s Bail Law, The Atlantic, November 2017
- Should Indian Reservations Give Local Cops Authority on Their Land?, The Atlantic, July 2017
- When the Courts Take Police Officers at Their Word, The Atlantic, April 2017
- The Leak Prosecution That Lost the Space Race, The Atlantic, August 2016
- The Fourth Amendment Goes Digital, Slate, June 2014
- Smoke Signals, Newsweek, May 2014
- The Right to Silence Your Phone, Newsweek, March 2014
- The Short Arm of the Law, Newsweek, December 2013
- Providence, You’re Looking Good, n+1, November 2012
- Introduction, Critical Insights: The Metamorphosis of Franz Kafka (Salem Press 2011)
- The Norway Town That Forgave and Forgot Its Child Killers, the Guardian, March 2010 (with Erwin James)
- The Man Who Blew Up the Welfare State, n+1, February 2010
- Ignoble Nobel, n+1, October 2009
- Street-Time for Hamsun, n+1, August 2009
Selected News Reporting
- Police Say Seizing Property Without Trial Helps Keep Crime Down. A New Study Shows They're Wrong, ProPublica, December 2020
- The Long Odds Facing Trump's Attempts to Get State Legislatures to Override Election Results, ProPublica, November 2020
- The Trump Campaign Can't Find a Judge Who Will Ignore Facts—but It's Trying, ProPublica, November 2020
- If Trump Tries to Sue His Way to Election Victory, Here's What Happens, ProPublica, November 2020
- Why Bush v. Gore Still Matters in 2020, ProPublica, November 2020
- "Cover Up": House Democrats Subpoena Documents That NLRB Refused to Share in Ethics Investigation, ProPublica, September 2020
- Did Rudy Giuliani Nullify His Attorney-Client Protections?, ProPublica, October 2019
- Trump's NLRB, Trying to Cut Protections for Millions of Temps and Fast-Food Workers, Trips Up Again, ProPublica, September 2019
- Soon You May Not Even Have to Click on a Website Contract to Be Bound by Its Terms, ProPublica, May 2019
- Why Jeff Sessions’ Final Act Could Have More Impact Than Expected, ProPublica, November 2018
- NLRB Member Is Under Investigation for a Conflict of Interest, ProPublica, February 2018
- Trump’s Mining Regulator Nominee Was Once Dropped by the Agency for Doing “Junk” Work, ProPublica, December 2017
- Massacre Forces New Look at Security in Europe, The Associated Press, August 2011 (with Adam Geller)
- AP Exclusive: Insanity Ruling Not Likely in Norway, The Associated Press, July 2011
- Norway Gunman Surrendered with Hands Held High, The Associated Press, July 2011 (with Louise Nordström)
- Vandalism in Old Newport Cemetery Provokes Outrage, The Associated Press, June 2011
- R.I. Judge Holdup Sends 2 Dozen Cases to N.H., Mass., The Associated Press, March 2011
- Norway Bomb Plot Underscores al-Qaida Pitfalls, The Associated Press, August 2010
- Norway Bomb Arrests Linked to U.S., British Plots, The Associated Press, July 2010 (with Matt Apuzzo & Adam Goldman)
- AP Investigation: Oil Self-Regulates Around the Globe, The Associated Press, May 2010 (with Karl Ritter)
- Lutefisk and Loot: Tax Records Open in Norway, The Associated Press, October 2009
- Nobel Jury Speaks Out in Defense of Obama Prize, The Associated Press, October 2009 (with Karl Ritter)