The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold today won the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting based on his work in 2016 investigating Donald Trump’s alleged charitable contributions.
Fahrenthold’s work cast doubt on the then-GOP nominee’s supposed generosity. His reporting, which spanned much of the presidential campaign, dug into everything from Trump’s appearances at past charitable events to the Queens businessman’s allocation of supposed donations.
Fahrenthold is also the reporter who uncovered audio of Trump bragging in 2005 to then-“Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush about his attempts to lure various women into bed.
“Because journalists deliver uncomfortable truths, they will always be easy targets of criticism,” Pulitzer Prize Administrator Mike Pride said Monday before announcing the 2017 winners.
“It is truly an all of the American people,” Pride added.
The Pulitzer committee updated its website Monday to reflect the latest winners of the award.
“For persistent reporting that created a model for transparent journalism in political campaign coverage while casting doubt on Donald Trump’s assertions of generosity toward charities,” reads the entry for Fahrenthold.
The site also lists Fahrenthold’s winning work, which includes the following articles:
- Little proof of Trump’s big giving
- Portrait of Trump as donor emerges
- Trump: ‘I regret’ lewd chat in 2005
Past recipients of the “National Reporting” Pulitzer include the Washington Post staff for their work in 2016 investigating police shootings, the Post’s Carol D. Leonnig for her coverage in 2015 of the Secret Service’s many ongoing problems and the Gazette’s David Phillips in 2014 for his coverage of abused veterans.
The Pulitzer committee, which has doled out awards for excellence in journalism for 101 years now, kept with tradition this year by not announcing the finalists in advance.
