James Risen

James Risen (born April 27, 1955) is an American journalist for The New York Times who previously worked for the Los Angeles Times. He has written or co-written many articles concerning U.S. government activities and is the author or co-author of two books about the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a book about the American public debate about abortion. Risen is a Pulitzer Prize winner.

Background

Risen grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, graduated from Brown University (1977) and received a Master's degree in Journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism (1978). He is now an investigative reporter for The New York Times, where he has worked since 1998.

Risen won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for his stories about President George W. Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. He also contributed to the staff entry that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for coverage of the September 11 attacks and terrorism.

Risen has written four books: Wrath of Angels: The American Abortion War (Basic Books) (Judy Thomas, co-author) (1998); The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB (Random House) (Milt Bearden, co-author) (2003); State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration (The Free Press) (2006); and Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, and Endless War (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) (2014). State of War was a New York Times bestseller. In 2007, Risen was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.