
Margot Williams
Margot Williams is the Research Editor for Investigations at The Intercept. Her career at the Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists is one of the most respected in the investigative reporting world. She has pursued jihadis online and detainees who died in U.S. immigration detention, investigated Iraq war contractors, and followed the money (and private jets) of mayors, governors, senators, presidential candidates, and ex-presidents. And she has spread her passion for investigative journalism — and her incredible ferreting skills — at numerous international workshops over the years.
During 14 years at the Washington Post, she was a member of two Washington Post Pulitzer Prize-winning teams, for a 1998 investigation of D.C. police shootings of civilians and then again in 2001 for national coverage of terrorism. In the aftermath of 9/11 at the Washington Post and later at the New York Times, she investigated the network of jets and shell companies involved in the transport of terrorism suspects among secret prisons around the globe. She compiled the first list of the Guantánamo detainees — years before their names were made public — and created the comprehensive Guantánamo database on the Times website. In 2011, she analyzed the Guantánamo documents leaked by Chelsea Manning for NPR and the New York Times.
The FBI Tried to Ambush My Source. Now I’m Telling the Whole Story.
I’ve been reluctant to write what I know about the FBI’s scheme because the tale is so complicated that I’m still not sure I fully understand it.
I Spent 20 Years Covering America’s Secretive Detention Regime. Torture Was Always the Subtext.
The U.S. naval base in Cuba was like another planet, where only the camaraderie of other journalists kept me tied to reality.
Capitol Rioter Admits False Statements to FBI, but Prosecutors Haven’t Charged Him With a Felony
The Justice Department frequently charges Muslims with felonies for making false statements to federal agents.
Lawyers for Accused 9/11 Plotters Say Government Withheld Public Information
The sanitized summaries of CIA cables provided by the prosecution leave out vital details that journalists and others have obtained using FOIA.