My beat is great, because there is a financial or lobbying angle undergirding almost every significant development in the political process! I try to expose the motivations behind — and impacts of — donations to campaigns, super PACs and nonprofit groups. I chronicle lobbying and influence campaigns by domestic and foreign interests, the people and companies facilitating them and their effect.
I have covered politics and government at all levels, from small-town cop shops and zoning commissions to statehouses, Congress and the presidential campaign trail.
I joined the Times in 2017. Before that, I was an investigative reporter for 10 years at Politico. I cut my teeth in the industry covering state politics and government at The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. and The Center for Public Integrity in Washington. I started my career covering local news for The Journal Inquirer in Manchester, Conn.
I’ve won various journalism awards over the years, and I am the author of “Big Money: 2.5 Billion Dollars, One Suspicious Vehicle, and a Pimp — on the Trail of the Ultra-Rich Hijacking American Politics,” which chronicled the characters and motivations behind the explosion of money in American politics after the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision.
I grew up in Philadelphia and Cheltenham Township, Pa., and graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I live in Washington’s Northern Virginia suburbs.
As a Times journalist, I am committed to upholding the standards of integrity outlined in our Ethical Journalism Handbook. I strive for my work to be accurate and fair. That means that when I make mistakes, I correct them. It also means that I give the people I cover a chance to respond to my reporting, so they are not surprised by anything that appears in my stories. I identify myself as a reporter for The Times before asking questions, and I protect my sources. I don’t make political donations, or otherwise participate in the political process. I choose not to vote in partisan elections.
If you have thoughts on my reporting or a tip you would like to share — including confidentially — please contact me. I can provide my phone number for encrypted communications upon request.
Email: kenneth.vogel@nytimes.com
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Elliott Broidy had filed lawsuits against a former C.I.A. officer and three lobbyists accusing them of helping Qatar engineer the theft and distribution of his communications to discredit him.
By Mark Mazzetti and Kenneth P. Vogel
Michael J. Gottlieb is part of a cadre of lawyers deploying defamation, one of the oldest areas of the law, against a tide of political disinformation.
By Elizabeth Williamson
AIPAC, long influential with both parties in Washington, is drawing criticism from Democrats for trying to defeat incumbents while it struggles to move aid for Israel through Congress.
By Kate Kelly and Kenneth P. Vogel
Republicans in Congress built their impeachment case against President Biden around a bribery accusation that the F.B.I. had warned them was uncorroborated.
By Luke Broadwater and Glenn Thrush
How Alexander Smirnov managed to convince business partners, law enforcement agencies and politicians he had something of value to offer remains an enigma.
By Glenn Thrush and Kenneth P. Vogel
The Hollywood lawyer’s support of the president’s son is under scrutiny from House Republicans while his aggressive tactics are rankling the White House.
By Kenneth P. Vogel, Luke Broadwater and Michael S. Schmidt
The informant’s story was part of a series of explosive and unsubstantiated claims by Republicans that the Bidens engaged in potentially criminal activity.
By Glenn Thrush
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, is among the avowedly nonpartisan groups under pressure from donors to take more aggressively political stances.
By Kenneth P. Vogel
Jonathan Braun, whose sentence for drug smuggling was commuted in the final hours of the Trump presidency, was fined over separate accusations that he bilked and threatened borrowers.
By Michael S. Schmidt
$71 million of the clothing company’s earnings have been used since September 2022 to fund wildlife restoration, dam removal and Democratic groups.
By David Gelles and Kenneth P. Vogel