Brody Mullins is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and author of The Wolves of K Street: The Secret History of How Big Money Took over Big Government.
Mullins won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting for stories in The Wall Street Journal that exposed thousands of high-ranking government officials who owned stock in companies they regulate.
His book, published in May 2024 by Simon & Schuster, is the definitive account of the rise of corporate power and lobbying in Washington. It tells the story of the rise of modern lobbying industry through three dynasties – one Republican, two Democratic – that enabled corporate interests to infiltrate American politics and change public policy.
In two decades as an investigative reporter at The Wall Street Journal, Mullins wrote scores of ground-breaking stories about the intersection of business and politics, exposed numerous scandals and prompted new laws and regulations to protect Americans against corruption by powerful government officials, lobbyists and Wall Street traders.
He’s uncovered lawmakers who invest in companies they oversee; found that some high-ranking staff were compensated by corporations they regulate; and illustrated how hedge funds hire Beltway insiders to mine the government for market-moving information they use to score huge trading profits on Wall Street. His reporting on Wall Street and Washington prompted the enactment of the STOCK Act, which prohibits U.S. lawmakers from investing in stocks based on inside information.
Mullins also shined a light on lavish lifestyle lawmakers enjoy thanks to their positions in government, including five-star trips on the dime of U.S. corporations; taxpayer-funded junkets to tourist locations; and the perks they enjoy when traveling internationally. The stories forced Congress to cancel plans to spend $500 million on a fleet of new luxury planes and to reform how lawmakers travel on trips funded by taxpayers and corporations.
Mullins has also published memorable stories about the players at the center of scandal. He exposed the jilted lover who sparked the bribery scandal involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff; unspooled the shocking story of a kickback scheme and suicide involving a high-flying pharmaceutical lobbyist and one of Washington’s top party hosts; and wrote the inside account of how an addiction to artwork led to the downfall of one of Washington’s most prominent Democratic lobbyists.
In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Mullins has won the George Polk Award and has twice won the Everett Dirksen Award for best coverage of Congress. Washingtonian calls him one of 50 best reporters in politics. He has appeared on CNN, Fox News and numerous cable shows and his work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Politico, The Atlantic and elsewhere.
Brody graduated from Gonzaga High School and Northwestern University and now lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Lauren, two daughters and son.