Tim Golden

Editor at Large

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Tim Golden works as both a reporter and editor at ProPublica, concentrating on national security, foreign policy and criminal justice. He was previously the founding managing editor for news and investigations at The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization focused on the U.S. criminal justice system. He was also a senior writer at The New York Times, where he spent two decades as an investigative reporter, foreign correspondent and national correspondent.

Golden began his journalism career at United Press International, covering foreign affairs in the Washington bureau. In 1985, he went to El Salvador as the Central America bureau chief for the Miami Herald, covering war and political upheaval across the region. He was later based in Brazil as the paper’s South America correspondent and spent four years in Mexico as bureau chief for The New York Times.

As a filmmaker, Golden wrote and co-directed the feature documentary film “Elián,” which had its premiere at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival and was broadcast around the world by CNN and the BBC. He has been a story consultant on feature films including Steven Soderbergh’s Oscar-winning “Traffic” and “Ché.” He also worked on Alex Gibney’s “Taxi to the Dark Side,” which won the Academy Award for feature documentary and was based on Golden’s reporting about U.S. military abuses in Afghanistan.

Golden’s many journalism honors include two shared Pulitzer Prizes: the 1998 international reporting award for coverage of drug corruption in Mexico and the 1987 national reporting prize for stories on the Iran-Contra scandal. He has been a fellow of the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the New America Foundation.

Why the 9/11 Families Are So Angry With the PGA Tour

The PGA Tour seized on alleged Saudi connections to the 9/11 attacks when opposing the Saudi-funded LIV Golf tour. But in partnering with LIV, families of the 9/11 victims say the PGA has “done a complete 180.”

Focus of 9/11 Families’ Lawsuit Against Saudi Arabia Turns to a Saudi Student Who May Have Been a Spy

Twenty years after the Sept. 11 attacks, declassified FBI documents have changed a big piece of the story about possible Saudi government help to the hijackers. Families of the victims want more information.

Años antes de acusarlo, investigadores de EE. UU. descubrieron pruebas de que el antiguo Secretario de Seguridad de México había cometido supuestos actos de corrupción

En lo que podría ser una de las fallas de inteligencia más notables de la guerra contra las drogas, EE.UU. pasó por alto advertencias de la posible corrupción de Genaro García Luna, arquitecto de la lucha de México contra el crimen organizado.

U.S. Investigators Uncovered Alleged Corruption by Mexico’s Former Security Minister Years Before He Was Indicted

In what may prove to be one of the more remarkable intelligence failures of the drug war, the U.S. missed warnings that Genaro García Luna, the chief architect of Mexico’s fight against organized crime, could be in league with the criminals.

El abandono del caso Cienfuegos fue decisión de Barr

Cómo se desmoronó la más importante acusación de EE. UU. contra un funcionario mexicano.

El caso Cienfuegos: el conflicto que hundió la lucha contra las drogas de México y Estados Unidos

Hace 2 años, DEA detuvo a un general mexicano con la esperanza de confrontar la corrupción de alto nivel en el centro del crimen organizado. Pero el caso se vino abajo, y con él la cooperación entre EEUU y México en cuanto al combate al narcotráfico.

The Cienfuegos Affair: Inside the Case that Upended America’s Drug War

Two years ago, the DEA arrested a Mexican general, hoping to lay bare the high-level corruption at the heart of organized crime. Then the case fell apart — and took down U.S.-Mexican cooperation on drug policy with it.

Dropping the Charges Against General Cienfuegos Was William Barr’s Call

How the most significant corruption case against a Mexican official fell apart.

Long-Secret FBI Report Reveals New Connections Between 9/11 Hijackers and Saudi Religious Officials in U.S.

“This validates what we have been saying,” says an attorney for families of 9/11 victims who are suing the Saudi government over alleged support of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Declassifying the 9/11 Investigation

President Biden says he will open up the government’s secret files about the plot, but will they answer the questions that remain?

¿Los cubanoamericanos le darán el triunfo a Trump en Florida?

Sesenta y dos años después de la Revolución cubana, las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y la isla cobran gran importancia.

Could Trump’s Success With Cuban American Voters Help Tip Florida His Way?

Many Cuban Americans oppose steps the White House has taken against Cuba, but they are still backing his hard-line approach.

Inside the U.S.’s Largest Maximum-Security Prison, COVID-19 Raged. Outside, Officials Called Their Fight a Success.

Inmates at Angola prison in Louisiana told ProPublica of widespread illness, dysfunctional care and deadly neglect as the coronavirus outbreak hit.

The Justice Department Accidentally Released the Name of Saudi Official Suspected of Helping the 9/11 Hijackers

William Barr’s DOJ inadvertently named Saudi official Musaed al-Jarrah in a court filing after trying for two years to conceal his identity.

Attorney General Barr Refuses to Release 9/11 Documents to Families of the Victims

The move comes after President Donald Trump promised to help families, who accuse Saudi Arabia of complicity in the attacks. Barr says he cannot even explain why the material must stay secret without putting national security at risk.

Taxpayers Paid Millions to Design a Low-Cost Ventilator for a Pandemic. Instead, the Company Is Selling Versions of It Overseas.

As coronavirus sweeps the globe, there is not a single Trilogy Evo Universal ventilator — developed with government funds — in the U.S. stockpile. Meanwhile, Royal Philips N.V. has sold higher-priced versions to clients around the world.

Operation Encore and the Saudi Connection: A Secret History of the 9/11 Investigation

Behind the scenes, a small team of FBI agents spent years trying to solve a stubborn mystery — whether officials from Saudi Arabia, one of Washington’s closest allies, were involved in the worst terror attack in U.S. history. This is their story.

Saudi Fugitives Accused of Serious Crimes Get Help to Flee While U.S. Officials Look the Other Way

The FBI, Department of Homeland Security and other agencies have known for years that Saudi diplomats were helping Saudi fugitives. But Washington avoided even raising the problem out of concern that it might hurt Saudi cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

A pesar de sus duras palabras contra traficantes de migrantes, Trump ha socavado esfuerzos para frenarles

ICE ha transferido personal y dinero de investigaciones más complejas para respaldar la campaña de la administración de arrestar, encarcelar y deportar a los inmigrantes ilegales.

Despite Trump’s Tough Talk About Migrant Smugglers, He’s Undercut Efforts to Stop Them

ICE has shifted manpower and money away from more complex investigations to support the administration’s push to arrest, detain and deport undocumented immigrants.

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