Alexander Mallin
Alexander Mallin follows how the Justice Department and federal courts handle the most politically charged cases in Washington, turning dense legal moves into clear, incremental stories for ABC News. He covers politics through the lens of law enforcement and the courts, focusing on special counsel investigations, high-profile prosecutions and clashes between the executive branch, Congress and federal prosecutors.
Justice Department and special counsel investigations
Mallin’s core beat is the Justice Department and the network of special counsels and prosecutors who shape the legal side of national politics. He reports on how special counsel inquiries into presidents and other senior officials unfold, tracking everything from interview transcripts to subpoena fights. His coverage of President Joe Biden’s effort to block release of audio recordings from a special counsel interview shows how he stays on the procedural details of separation-of-powers disputes while anchoring them in their political stakes.
Across his work he follows the life cycle of politically sensitive investigations: the appointment of special counsels, the investigative steps that become public through court filings, and the recommendations or charges that follow. He is attentive to how each new filing or motion changes the legal posture of a case, and he writes in a way that lets readers understand both the narrow legal question and the broader implications for presidential power and accountability. His stories often emphasize what prosecutors, defense lawyers and judges are actually doing on the record rather than relying on anonymous spin about where an investigation is heading.
Federal prosecutions and the aftermath of January 6
A significant share of Mallin’s recent reporting sits at the intersection of politics and federal criminal law, particularly the Justice Department’s response to the January 6 attack on the Capitol and other high-profile cases arising from national political conflict. He follows indictments, plea agreements and trial outcomes for defendants tied to those events, and he regularly breaks out what new charges mean in plain language. His coverage tends to highlight the specific statutes at issue, the evidence presented in court and the sentencing arguments from both prosecutors and defense counsel.
Rather than treating these cases only as political symbols, he writes them as concrete criminal matters: who was charged, what evidence was introduced, which legal theories prosecutors are testing and how judges are reacting. That approach gives his work a running-casefile quality; communications teams tracking risk and exposure around federal prosecutions can see how the Justice Department’s strategy is evolving over time. He is especially attuned to how these prosecutions test the limits of existing law, such as obstruction or conspiracy counts applied to political actors and protest leaders.
Court documents, transparency fights and institutional detail
Mallin’s stories are document-heavy and institutionally focused, often built around complaints, motions, transcripts and inspector general reports. The Biden lawsuit over special counsel interview audio is one example of a recurring theme in his work: transparency fights over investigative records, and the balance between public access and investigative integrity. He explains which statutes and rules govern release of evidence, what arguments each side is making, and how judges frame the public’s right to know when national security or executive privilege is in play.
He routinely parses language from court orders and filings, pulling out the operative lines that change what is known about an investigation or prosecution. His coverage foregrounds process in a way that distinguishes him from a general-assignment politics reporter: he explains how grand juries operate, what triggers a special counsel’s appointment, why certain records are redacted and how internal Justice Department policies shape prosecutorial decisions. That emphasis on institutional mechanics makes his pieces useful to readers who need to anticipate how similar disputes might play out in their own matters.
Incremental legal coverage with political context
Mallin reports in short, frequent bursts that track cases step by step rather than only surfacing at major verdicts or announcements. He covers hearings, filings and scheduling orders that many outlets might relegate to briefs, but he consistently links each small development back to the larger political and legal narrative. His writing is straightforward and restrained, privileging the language of the filings and the voices of lawyers, judges and officials over colorful scene-setting.
Across stories, he is careful about separating what is known from what is being argued, and he makes clear when a development is procedural rather than substantive. That discipline gives his coverage a steady, legal-journal style even when the subject is a president, former president or other polarizing figure. For sources and organizations, his track record signals a focus on the official record, formal proceedings and the institutional stakes of Justice Department actions more than personality-driven political storytelling.
4 more politics journalists.
Adam Daly
Adam Daly covers politics for amNewYork with a focus on the inner workings of city and state government and the low-profile forums where power is exercised and negotiated. He reports on commissions and panels that shape how New York is governed, treating charter reform and government efficiency as central political terrain. His coverage of moves to replace an Adams-era charter commission with a new government efficiency panel foregrounds mandate, authority, and what “efficiency” means in practice for agencies and services. He tracks who gains and loses influence when one commission supplants another and which constituencies are being answered to. Daly explains dense procedural questions in clear, reader-facing terms, using specific institutional details and occasional wordplay to connect jargon-heavy reforms to public spending, service delivery, and mayoral power.
Alex Swoyer
Alex Swoyer covers national politics through the lens of the law, treating court cases and filings as core political documents rather than a separate legal niche. She reports for the Washington Times on the Supreme Court, federal courts and the justice system’s intersection with campaigns, Congress and the presidency. Her coverage follows political disputes as they move into courtrooms, focusing on cases that affect elections, executive power, immigration, religious liberty and gun rights. She explains opinions, dissents and procedural moves in plain language, grounding stories in briefs, oral arguments, orders and government records, then pairing them with reaction from officials, strategists and advocacy groups. She also reports on election rules, January 6 prosecutions, politically sensitive investigations, Republican Party dynamics and campaign‑trail narratives, using straight news, explainers and roundups to show how law, institutions and political ambition meet.
Allie Kelly
Allie Kelly is a politics reporter at Business Insider who treats US politics as a story about personalities, performance, and the internet. She covers the intersection of political figures, online culture, and how power is exercised in public. Her work follows elected officials and rising players across parties, focusing on how they brand themselves, test messages, and respond to scrutiny. She often writes about memes, viral moments, and tools like meme coins as real campaign tactics and communication strategies. Her reporting explains how digital culture shapes electoral politics, party tensions, and governance. She favors short, accessible pieces built around vivid examples, like a lawmaker launching a DOGE-style coin, to explain broader trends. She uses clear, plain language, grounding each story in who holds power, what they are doing, and why their online choices matter.
Andrew Egger
Andrew Egger covers how power on the right is built, justified, and used, treating Republican infighting and policy fights as a study of a party reshaped by Trump rather than a red-versus-blue contest. He writes about American politics for The Bulwark with a focus on the modern Republican party and the conservative movement’s internal arguments. His core subject is the Republican party in the Trump era and its aftermath, tracing how officials, operatives, and activists navigate Trump’s ongoing influence. He reports from primaries, leadership battles, religious gatherings, and movement conferences, often profiling lesser-known figures with outsized influence. He spends significant time inside the conservative ecosystem, especially the Christian right, following how theological and ideological language moves into campaigns, legislative agendas, and enforcement decisions. His work is narrative and essayistic but grounded in close reporting, with measured, unsparing analysis of rhetoric, incentives, and democratic norms.