Insider expands its DC bureau with 6 new hires and standout political coverage
Insider has some exciting news to share.
The company recently opened its first bureau in DC, naming Darren Samuelsohn as bureau chief. The bureau has a simple goal: to create exclusive and impactful investigative political journalism. It has grown rapidly, despite the pandemic and severe economic downturn.
Samuelsohn, who spent a decade as a senior reporter at Politico covering the White House, Congress, and a variety of political and policy issues, has made six exciting hires. The latest, Tina Sfondeles, is a Democratic beat reporter covering the Biden campaign. She comes from the Chicago Sun Times, where she covered Illinois state politics and government. She joins deputy editor Elvina Nawaguna (most recently from CQ/RollCall); senior Washington correspondent Dave Levinthal (hired from the Center for Public Integrity); policy correspondent Robin Bravender (most recently Capital-Star Washington bureau chief); Trump political correspondent Tom LoBianco (from CNN, AP); and Kayla Epstein (from Insider’s politics team and before that a general assignment reporter for The Washington Post).
(from left: the Insider DC team’s Dave Levinthal, Darren Samuelsohn, Elvina Mawaguna, Robin Bravender, and Tom LoBianco)
The team has already been hard at work, publishing a number of standout features, investigations, and shorter enterprise stories that tell the inside story about what’s happening in and outside the Beltway.
Here are just a few examples:
Unearthing the Trump campaign’s internal audit of spending irregularities during Brad Parscale’s tenure as campaign manager.
Uncovering the mystery medical situation that Biden VP finalist Val Demings wouldn’t discuss.
Tracking down four former EPA administrators to reveal what they thought would happen next at the agency under the Trump administration.
Revealing how unconcerned President Trump has been about the government’s COVID-19 failings in the face of a possible bipartisan commission to investigate what went wrong with the US response.
Speaking with five associates of the Mercer family, who, led by billionaire hedge-fund manager Robert Mercer, poured eight figures into Trump’s 2016 election bid. They revealed why the influential backers are likely going to sit out the 2020 election.
We’re excited about the expansion of our politics coverage, and we invite you to continue to stay up-to-date with what’s happening in DC by visiting our Politics vertical!