About
I write about the law from Washington, D.C. Much of that work now goes into Open File, my twice-weekly newsletter on national legal affairs, and into legal commentary on television, radio, and podcasts.
I left the Justice Department at the end of January 2020, after several years prosecuting large-scale financial fraud and with a year left in Donald Trump's first term. The administration's management of the DOJ had already been disastrous. Weeks later the pandemic hit, and like everyone else, I had time on my hands. I started writing to pass it, and to my own surprise, I was lucky to get some good opportunities. I made two commitments to myself then — that I would try to write for every outlet that I actually liked to read, and that I would keep doing it as long as I found the work interesting, challenging, and rewarding.
Background
I've been the legal affairs columnist for Politico and for New York Magazine. My work has also run in most major American publications. You can find selected work here and all of it here.
I provide legal commentary on television, radio, and podcasts — MS NOW, CNN, NPR, PBS, C-SPAN, and the BBC, along with news channels in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, India, Australia, and Italy, among others. Recent segments are here.
The law doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Understanding what’s happening legally often requires understanding the political and electoral landscape — and vice versa.
Approach
When I started writing, I saw a gap. Legal commentary at the time was skewed toward telling people what they wanted to hear, and it often assumed that readers were either uninterested in legal nuance or incapable of understanding it. I reject that. The law can and should be accessible to everyone.
My goal is to give readers the kind of analysis a paying client deserves: to the point, accessible, and honest about both the full range of possibilities in a given situation and the likely outcome as a practical matter. That means being clear not just about what I think, but about how I think about it, so readers can understand why they agree or disagree with me.
It also sometimes means making arguments that aren't popular with your natural audience. Between late 2020 and 2022, I argued repeatedly that Trump needed to be promptly criminally investigated and, if necessary, prosecuted after leaving office, particularly given his effort to overturn the 2020 election results. I turned out to be more right than I imagined about the need. The timing was another matter.
How I Work
I try to focus on how lawyers and the DOJ actually operate — not just in theory, but in practice — based on my own experience as a lawyer and my time as a federal prosecutor. That shapes how I read decisions, charging documents, and institutional behavior. But legal analysis alone isn't enough.
I’m interested in the intersection of law and politics, which means I talk to the people involved: national politicians and members of Congress, congressional staffers, prominent lawyers, foreign diplomats, and current and former DOJ officials. That kind of sourcing is rarer than it should be in legal commentary, and it changes how you think and what you’re able to tell readers.
Most of what I've written has come in the form of columns — sometimes reported, sometimes analytic, sometimes argumentative in nature — and long-form features, but I've also commissioned and designed polls, convened debates among lawyers and roundtables among journalists, reported news and news-y things (few people read it, but I really liked this piece), published book reviews, and written newsletters for insider-types. I enjoy mixing these things up. If I have a perspective on the issue at hand, I try to make that clear to readers.
Outside of Work
Music
1990s hip-hop and R&B. Top 5 DOA: Big, Nas, Jay, Jada, Push. Then Mary, Mariah, SWV and more.
"The Roof" is perhaps my favorite song — a masterclass of singing, songwriting, and production, built off one of the best rap beats of all time. "Mary Jane (All Night Long)" is a very close second.
Film & TV
Crime, suspense, and thrillers. I’ll watch a mid-tier horror movie and enjoy it without apology. One of my favorite films is Spike Lee’s 25th Hour.
Community
I started a newspaper for 4th and 5th graders at a public school in my Washington, D.C. neighborhood. Once a week during the school year, I supervise 15–20 kids and work with them to put out a monthly(ish) edition, and I bring in guests to talk to them about their work.
I recently finished my second year as editor. The kids are wonderful and hilarious. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.