Ari Shapiro

Ari Shapiro reports on the White House for NPR with a focus on national security and legal affairs. His stories appear on all of NPR's newsmagazines, including All Things Considered and Morning Edition, where he is also a frequent guest host. Shapiro began covering the White House in 2010 after five years as NPR's Justice Correspondent, during which time his coverage of Justice Department policies and controversies chronicled one of the most tumultuous periods in the department's history.

The first NPR reporter to be promoted to correspondent before age 30, Shapiro has been recognized with several journalism prizes, including The American Bar Association's Silver Gavel for his coverage of prisoners lost in Louisiana's detention system after Hurricane Katrina; The Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize for his investigation of methamphetamine use and HIV transmission; the Columbia Journalism Review's "laurel" recognition of his investigation into disability benefits for injured veterans; and the American Judges' Association's American Gavel for a body of work reporting on courts and the justice system. He has appeared as a guest analyst on television news programs including The NewsHour, The Rachel Maddow Show and CNN Newsroom.

Shapiro is based in Washington, D.C., where, as NPR's Justice Correspondent, he covered some of the most significant court cases in recent history, including Supreme Court rulings on Guantanamo detainees, the perjury trial of top White House official Lewis "Scooter" Libby and the fraud trial of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. He has also broken stories about the government's evolving approach to counterterrorism, detention and interrogation policies. He investigated abuses of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib prison and covered the legal proceedings against American soldiers accused of those abuses.

Before covering the Justice Department, Shapiro was NPR's regional reporter in Atlanta and then in Miami. In 2003, he was an NPR reporting fellow at WBUR in Boston.

Shapiro is a magna cum laude graduate of Yale. He began his journalism career in 2001 in the office of NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg. Shapiro was born in Fargo, North Dakota, and grew up in Portland, Oregon.

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It's All Politics
5:33 pm
Mon September 17, 2012

Obama, Romney In Tug Of War Over China Trade

Credit Alexander F. Yuan / AP
Shipping containers sit at a port in Tianjin, China, on Feb. 28.

Originally published on Sun October 21, 2012 6:04 pm

President Obama kicked off the week in the battleground state of Ohio, where he spent much of the time Monday talking about China.

His administration filed a new trade complaint against China with the World Trade Organization on Monday. The White House is challenging Chinese subsidies for auto parts.

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It's All Politics
4:34 pm
Tue September 11, 2012

Reporter's Pledge-Of-Allegiance Quandary Sparks Twitter Debate On Romney Trail

Credit Charles Dharapak / AP
Attendees at Monday's Mitt Romney rally in Mansfield, Ohio, recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mitt Romney's rally in Mansfield, Ohio, on Monday began the way every political event begins. "Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and our country's national anthem."

This is always an uncomfortable moment for me. While I sat at my laptop, most of the reporters around me stood and put their hands over their hearts. This time instead of just sitting and working, I tweeted what I was feeling:

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It's All Politics
5:19 pm
Wed August 22, 2012

Despite Fact Checks, Romney Escalates Welfare Work Requirement Charge

Credit Stephen Jaffe / Reuters /Landov
President Clinton signs the welfare reform law on Aug. 22, 1996.

Originally published on Wed August 22, 2012 7:59 pm

Wednesday marks the 16th anniversary of President Clinton's welfare overhaul. That law has become a major issue in this year's presidential campaign.

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It's All Politics
9:53 am
Tue August 21, 2012

Ryan Takes His Workout On The Road

Credit Gerardo Mora / Getty Images
Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan speaks Saturday in Florida.

Originally published on Tue August 21, 2012 11:27 am

From the window of my room at the Courtyard Marriott in downtown Pittsburgh, I can see a sliver of the hotel fitness center. This morning I looked down there and saw a guy with an earpiece. Secret Service.

So I wasn't entirely surprised to walk into the tiny exercise room a little after 7 a.m. and find the Republican vice presidential candidate working out. There was a row of about half a dozen elliptical machines and treadmills, one workout bench, a small rack of dumbbells, an inflatable exercise ball, and a folding workout mat.

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Politics
5:18 pm
Thu August 16, 2012

Rebutting Tax Criticism, Romney Gives A Number

Originally published on Thu August 16, 2012 6:19 pm

Mitt Romney told reporters Thursday that he has never paid less than a 13 percent tax rate over the past decade. Until now, the presumptive Republican nominee had sidestepped questions about his personal income taxes. Romney has come under withering criticism over the tax issue from President Obama's campaign and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

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