James V. Grimaldi is a senior writer on the investigations desk of The Wall Street Journal. He is based in the Washington bureau, where he has worked since 2012. Previously, Grimaldi worked at The Washington Post for 12 years, primarily for the investigative unit. In 2006, he and two others won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for stories exposing the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. He participated in the accountability coverage after the 9/11 attacks that was a jury-nominated finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2002. His reporting on animal deaths at the National Zoo led to the dismissal of the director and his coverage of expense abuses at the Smithsonian ended with the firing of the institution’s top official. He has also received a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism, the Freedom of Information Award from Investigative Reporters and Editors, and the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress from the National Press Foundation.
Grimaldi has worked as Washington bureau chief of The Seattle Times and The Orange County Register, where he was a participant in coverage that won the staff a Pulitzer for investigative reporting in 1996. He has been a Ferris Journalism Professor at Princeton University and is a frequent lecturer at area universities. Grimaldi served as president and board member of Investigative Reporters and Editors and is currently on the board of the Fund for Investigative Journalism. He studied journalism at the University of Missouri, which awarded him a bachelor’s degree, and Columbia University, where he earned a master’s degree and was a Knight-Bagehot fellow for business and economics journalism.
