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David Corn (born February 20, 1959) is an American political journalist and author. He is the Washington, D.C. bureau chief for Mother Jones and is best known as a cable television commentator. Corn worked at The Nation from 1987 to 2007, where he served as Washington editor.
In February 2013, Corn was given the 2012 George Polk Award in journalism in the category of political reporting for his posting of a video and reporting of the "47 percent story", Republican nominee Mitt Romney's videoed meeting with donors during the 2012 presidential campaign.Monica Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery, "Mother Jones' David Corn Wins George Polk Award", Mother Jones, February 17, 2013.
Corn contributed a short story to Unusual Suspects (1996), a paperback collection of original crime stories.Weeks, Linton. "They Wrote the Book on Fund-Raising". The Washington Post, May 15, 1996, p. B1. The story was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award.
His novel, Deep Background (1999), is a conspiracy thriller about the assassination of a U.S. president at a White House press conference and the ensuing investigation. Reviews praised Corn's mastery of the political atmosphere and characters, although they split on whether this was a virtue or, coming towards the conclusion of Bill Clinton's term in office, already all-too-familiar territory. Reviewing the book in The New York Times, James Polk opined that although the book included dramatic scenes such as a "seedy nightspot catering to homosexual marines, an interagency hit squad, a high-class look, but don't touch escort service", the novel could not deliver "enough shocks left to sustain the genre". The Washington Post, though, called it a "top-notch conspiracy thriller," with reviewer Les Whitten observing, "This pot-au-feu of a thriller is brimming with gusto in spite of its familiar ingredients: Watergate, Chappaquiddick, the Kennedy assassinations, CIA scandals, congressional corruption and White House aide angst. Every old carrot and potato has been warmed over. Yet when you finish it, the palate wants more. How can this be? Maybe it tastes so good because it's deepened with subtle tangs of Dante, the Apostle John, Robert Penn Warren and some heartbreaker '60s ballads.".Polk, James. "The West Wing". New York Times Book Review, October 10, 1999, p. 25.
Corn was a critic of Clinton's successor, President George W. Bush. Corn's next book, 2003's The Lies of George W. Bush: Mastering the Politics of Deception, said that Bush had systematically "mugged the truth" as a political strategy, and he found fault with the media for failing to report this effectively. The book also broke with journalistic practice for its charge of lying, a word usually avoided as editorializing.Geoffrey Hodgson. "Trust Buster". The Washington Post, December 18, 2003, p. C3.Hertsgaard, Mark. "Chapter and verse on the need for regime change". Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2004, p. R3. In particular, Corn criticized many of the arguments offered to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and he challenged The New York Times columnist William Safire for claiming links between leader Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda.Okrent, Daniel. "The Privileges of Opinion, the Obligations of Fact". The New York Times, March 28, 2004, p. 4.2. In , co-written by Michael Isikoff of Newsweek and Corn, they analyzed the Bush administration's drive toward the invasion.
Corn with journalist Michael Isikoff co-wrote a book about the Donald Trump campaign and administration's ties with Russia and Russian hacking during the 2016 presidential campaign, including a history of similar Russian tactics during earlier administrations. Their book, , was released by Twelve in March 2018.
Novak, for his part, disputed that Plame had been a covert operative at the time her identity was revealed. He also objected to the negative portrayal of himself in Hubris, the book in part about the matter by Corn and Isikoff. Novak said of Corn, "Nobody was more responsible for bloating this episode". Novak felt that Corn was too close with former ambassador Joseph Wilson, Plame's husband and a key figure in criticism of the administration's arguments for invasion.Novak, Robert, " Who Said What When: The rise and fall of the Valerie Plame 'scandal.'" The Weekly Standard, October 16, 2006. However, in early 2007, an unclassified summary of Valerie Plame's employment history at the CIA was disclosed for the first time in a court filing which confirmed that Plame was indeed a covert operative at the time Novak made her name public.
David Corn of Mother Jones will receive the George Polk Award for Political Reporting ... Through persistent digging and careful negotiation with a source, Corn secured a full recording of Mitt Romney at a $50,000-a-plate Florida fundraiser declaring that 47 percent of Americans — those who back President Barack Obama — are "victims" who are "dependent upon government" and "pay no income tax". Corn worked for weeks to obtain the recording ... Furthermore, it was Corn's extensive previous reporting on Romney that convinced the source to trust him with its release. "LIU Announces 2012 George Polk Awards in Journalism" (press release), February 18, 2013.Corn's article that introduced the secret tape was published online on the Mother Jones on September 17, 2012. How Mother Jones got the Romney '47 percent' story
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