David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post has been awarded a well deserved Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting:
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.
During the campaign, Donald Trump painted himself and the Trump Foundation as a charitable foundation giving away millions of dollars to various charities. But after digging deeper, Fahrenthold found that the numbers didn’t add up:
In a detailed series of articles, he found that many of Trump’s philanthropic claims over the years had been exaggerated and often were not truly charitable activities at all.
Fahrenthold found that not only were Trump’s public claims of charitable giving false, but he had diverted money donated to the Trump Foundation for personal gain, used it to settle legal disputes, and even spent it on a life-size portrait of himself. The misappropriation of funds was so egregious, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman ordered the Trump Foundation to stop fundraising activities until it could be further investigated.
Other award winners included the New York Times:
For agenda-setting reporting on Vladimir Putin’s efforts to project Russia’s power abroad, revealing techniques that included assassination, online harassment and the planting of incriminating evidence on opponents.
Congratulations to Mr. Fahrenthold and all of the award winners for their hard work keeping the fire of truth and freedom alive. Head over to the Washington Post to read their great write-up.