top of page
Adam Klasfeld | Political Journalism
Covering President Trump's impeachment, the Mueller report, corruption trials and presidential debates, I have made an impact covering some of the most significant national and local political events in modern U.S. history.
Trump's Impeachment
Over the course of President Donald Trump's impeachment, my investigations and questions to lawmakers made waves on Capitol Hill. On top of three months of daily coverage of proceedings in the House and Senate, I mapped dozens of political donations by two central figures in the scandal: Rudy Giuliani’s now-indicted associates Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman. Stitching together court documents and federal records, my data journalism investigation and accompanying visualizations explained how prosecutors believe the duo illicitly funneled money through joint fundraising committees and super-PACs. My grilling of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about his ties to Parnas and Fruman caught the attention of both the New York Times and Washington Post, which cited my exchange in separate stories.
Writing Samples
Indicted Giuliani Ally Has Money-Tied Republicans Seeking Cover
Trump Becomes Third Impeached President in US History
THE RUSSIA PROBE
Over the course of the Russia investigation, I became a go-to source for breaking news about the prosecution of President Donald Trump's personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen. CTV News invited me to discuss Cohen's three year sentence, and the Washington Post, Politico, The Daily Beast, and other outlets cited my live-coverage of the proceedings. After the Mueller report's release, MSNBC invited me on Lawrence O'Donnell's "The Last Word" to analyze the mystery criminal referrals it contained live on the air, and then brought me back on weeks later for an update over a federal court fight over congressional subpoenas of Trump's Deutsche Bank records.
Writing Samples
Cohen Case: FBI Suspected Cohen as Foreign Agent Nearly a Year Before Raids
Deutsche Case: Subpoenas Targeting Trump Bank Records Get Lift-Off
Albany on Trial
Dubbed by New York's tabloids as "Albany on Trial," I filed wall-to-wall coverage of the corruption cases of the Empire State's most powerful, including ex-New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, and Governor Andrew Cuomo's former "right-hand man" Joseph Percoco. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara crackdown was disrupted by his firing by Trump, but it has continued through his successor.
As of this writing, all three sets of cases have netted convictions:
Jury Convicts NY Governor’s Ex-Top Aide of Corruption
Chorus of Corruption at Sheldon Silver Trial Opener
'Albany on Trial' Claims Its Next Victims
2016 Presidential Debates at Hofstra
Reporting live from the first 2016 presidential debate at Hofstra University, I filed roughly a dozen dispatches before, during, and after the bout. I interviewed campus activist leaders on how they were engaging with the political season in a feature that drew from the university's history of political engagement from Martin Luther King to "Born on the Fourth of July." My live coverage analyzed social media buzz around the debate and delivered blow-by-blow updates on the first-ever match-up between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
My post-debate analysis deconstructed how Trump's allies spun racial profiling in the New York City Police Department's stop-and-frisk program that a federal court found unconstitutional.
Click the stories below for a recap:
Clinton Gets Under Trump's Skin in First Presidential Debate (Roundup)
Trump Revives Stop & Frisk Straw Men (Spin room/Analysis)
Questions about my reporting? Want to see more? Email me at adam@adamklasfeld.com.
bottom of page