AP staff and freelancers scrambled to Florida and set up an ad hoc newsroom inside and outside the federal courthouse in Miami, and many others in Washington, U.S. News and beyond dove in to provide support and expertise after the surprise news that the Trump documents case had been moved from Washington to Florida by prosecutors.Read more
prior to former President Donald Trump’s felony arraignment for allegedly falsifying business records, captured in a crackerjack of a story Trump’s love of the Empire State, from childhood to indictment, with humor and wit.Read more.
for their analysis showing that brand-name prescription prices continue to rise and that the Trump Administration has not delivered on its promises to cut prescription drug price increases. https://bit.ly/2xCVi2M
“What’s in the safe?”
The headline on the cover of the New York Post editions on Aug. 23 spoke volumes about the impact, power and reach of AP reporting on the legal chaos surrounding President Donald Trump.
Washington investigative reporter Jeff Horwitz exclusively reported that the National Enquirer kept a safe containing documents on hush money payments and other damaging stories it killed as part of its cozy relationship with Trump leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Horwitz's story quickly went to No. 1 on AP Mobile and led websites around the world.
It was one of two AP exclusives touching on Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen that seized the nation’s attention last week. In addition to Horwitz, Albany statehouse reporter David Klepper was first to report that New York state investigators subpoenaed Cohen as part of their probe into the Trump Foundation. Klepper reported that Cohen is a potentially significant source for state investigators looking into whether Trump or his charity broke state law or lied about their tax liability.
For their exclusives, Horwitz and Klepper win the Beat of the Week.
for a story that revealed how former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman’s turn against President Trump wasn’t enough to convince blacks to let her return to the family fold. https://bit.ly/2MJbjwW
for his fascinating story on how Elkhart County, Indiana, grappled with the economic, cultural and moral ramifications of becoming a place known for locking up immigrants. https://bit.ly/2nafiEy
for tracking from South America a source at the White House who confirmed that President Trump on at least three occasions last year pressed his aides in private about the possibility of invading Venezuela. https://bit.ly/2KVFl0r
for exclusively reporting that a letter from the Trump legal team to special counsel Robert Mueller called fired FBI Director James Comey “Machiavellian,” dishonest and “unbounded by law and regulation.” https://bit.ly/2ukovhs
for obtaining the first published western interview of Natalia Veselnitskaya. The Russian lawyer, with reported links to the Kremlin, was at the center of a famous meeting in Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr. She told AP she has not yet been called for questioning by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. https://bit.ly/2HYgQNR
for an exclusive report about a Trump administration proposal under consideration to permit mandatory drug testing of certain food stamp recipients. https://bit.ly/2HCNiW0
for an intimate look at how refugee families living side by side in the same city have been affected by President Trump’s refugee policies in very different ways. https://bit.ly/2GUJPPr
for breaking the news that recently fired FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe had written contemporaneous memos after his meetings with President Donald Trump, similar to the records kept by his former boss James Comey. http://trib.in/2uatdAK
for an investigation revealing that a dozen potentially lifesaving Transportation Department safety regulations have been sidelined in the Trump administration’s push to cut red tape. http://bit.ly/2HfgVbU
for being first with the news that the Trump administration would extend temporary residency for nearly 7,000 Syrians in the U.S., but cut it off so new arrivals couldn’t apply. http://wapo.st/2EP02Vz
for being first to report that testing of prototypes of Trump’s proposed wall with Mexico found that their imposing heights would likely stop border crossers, a finding that pleased border hawks. http://bit.ly/2n4PUzF
for obtaining the GOP’s nine-page tax plan two hours before its official release and confirming key details of the plan ahead of the competition. http://bit.ly/2y1Np7R
for getting the first word on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's recommendations on the fates of two dozen federally protected land and ocean sites under review at the request of President Trump. Zinke told AP he will not rescind their status as national monuments but may allow other changes. http://bit.ly/2w2K0Ey
It was supposed to be a 15-minute interview. Instead, Associated Press Chief White House Correspondent Julie Pace kept President Donald Trump talking for an hour in a wide-ranging Oval Office discussion that was exclusive, illuminating and full of news.
Pace's sit-down with the president – resulting in multiple stories that others scrambled to follow and a transcript that readers devoured despite its 8,000-word length – earns the Beat of the Week.
for beating other media outlets to a letter from the Trump administration rescinding Obama administration’s transgender bathroom guidance for schools. http://apne.ws/2mIs3DW
for his exclusive story on a Trump team memo that described the businessman's support for the Dakota Access pipeline and rejected the criticism that his support was due to his personal investments. http://bit.ly/2hhjRvw