BRODY MULLINS
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, formerly of the Wall Street Journal
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 is the definitive account of the rise of corporate power and lobbying in Washington.
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 (2024, Simon & Schuster).
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 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.
Speech topics
The Wolves of K Street: The Secret History of How Big Money Took over Big Government
Brody is well-versed in a wide variety of topics involving politics, policy, business and lobbying in Washington. His book, The Wolves of K Street, is the definitive account of the rise of corporate lobbying and power in Washington from the 1970s to the Trump presidency. He has also written about the more recent fraying of the alliance between corporate America and the Republican Party. The increasing sway of the GOP’s populist wing – along with the moves by some Democrats toward wealthier and more educated elites – has signaled a possible realignment of the Republican and Democratic parties. Such a shift could be the most fascinating change in U.S. politics in our lifetime. Is the Republican Party the party of the downtrodden? Is the Democratic Party the party of the rich? Brody has spent years following this shift. An increasing number of Republicans in Washington now believe that consolidated economic power is more dangerous to American’s liberty and freedom than big government. Some Republicans are pressing federal regulators to take a more aggressive approach to antitrust enforcement to reign in American industries from Big Tech to meat-packing to Wall Street to the companies that control access to Taylor Swift tickets. Brody also has an expertise in government ethics and accountability and can talk about the financial and personal conflicts of interest in government that allow companies to tilt the playing field in their favor. Brody is also versed in the impact of the media and well-intentioned reformers who have unintentionally accelerated the polarization of politics and government and produced a government that often does not help its citizens.
Books
The Wolves of K Street: The Secret History of How Big Money Took Over Big Government
Two veteran investigative journalists trace the rise of the modern lobbying industry through the three dynasties—one Republican, two Democratic—that have enabled corporate interests to infiltrate American politics and undermine our democracy.