Richard Miniter (born 1967) is an investigative journalist and author whose articles have appeared in
Politico', ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', ''
The Washington Times
''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughou ...
'', ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''
The Atlantic Monthly
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'', ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'', ''
National Review
''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief ...
'',
PJ Media
PJ Media, originally known as Pajamas Media, is an American right-wing subscription-based commentary website. It was founded in 2004, with its majority owner being software entrepreneur, billionaire and angel investor Aubrey Chernick, founder o ...
, and ''
Reader’s Digest
''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
''. A former editorial writer and columnist for ''The Wall Street Journal'' in Europe, as well as a member of the investigative reporting team of the ''Sunday Times'' of London, he is currently the National Security columnist for ''Forbes''. He also authored three ''New York Times'' best-selling books, ''Losing bin Laden'', ''Shadow War'', ''Leading From Behind'', and most recently ''Eyes On Target''. In April 2014, Miniter was included by
CSPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
's
Brian Lamb
Brian Patrick Lamb (; born October 9, 1941) is an American journalist. He is the founder, executive chairman, and the now-retired CEO of C-SPAN, an American cable network that provides coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Sen ...
in his book ''Sundays At Eight'', as one of Lamb's top 40 book author interviews of the past 25 years for Miniter's investigative work on
9/11 mastermind
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (sometimes also spelled Shaikh; also known by at least 50 pseudonyms; born March 1, 1964 or April 14, 1965) is a Pakistani Islamist militant held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-re ...
.
Family and education
Miniter was born in New York City and grew up in
Rosendale, New York.
Among his siblings are several writers and journalists, including Frank Miniter, executive editor of the
National Rifle Association magazine ''
American Hunter
''American Rifleman'' is a United States-based monthly shooting and firearms interest publication, owned by the National Rifle Association (NRA). It is the 33rd-most-widely-distributed consumer magazine and the NRA's primary magazine. The magaz ...
'',
and
Brendan Miniter, formerly of ''The Wall Street Journal'', who is the editor of the book ''
The 4% Solution: Unleashing the Economic Growth America Needs''.
He studied philosophy at
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...
, graduating in 1990. He was an editor of the ''Vassar Spectator'', one of the school's student periodicals, where he worked with
Mark Thiessen and
Jonathan Karl
Jonathan D. Karl (born January 19, 1968) is an American political journalist and author. Karl has covered every major assignment in Washington, D.C., including the White House, Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the U.S. State Department, and has re ...
.
Policy and early media work
In 1989, he was a summer fellow at the
Institute for Humane Studies
The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a non-profit organization that promotes the teaching and research of classical liberalism in higher education in the United States. IHS offers funding opportunities, programs, and events for faculty and g ...
. He later worked as an environmental policy analyst at the
Competitive Enterprise Institute
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is a non-profit libertarian think tank founded by the political writer Fred L. Smith Jr. on March 9, 1984, in Washington, D.C., to advance principles of limited government, free enterprise, and individ ...
. From 1992 to 1994, Miniter was an associate producer of the PBS talk show ''TechnoPolitics''. In 1996, he produced a radio series profiling female executives and entrepreneurs, ''Enterprising Women'', that was distributed to more than a hundred radio stations in the United States. He was also a fellow and senior editor of the
Hudson Institute.
Career in journalism
Miniter published in a number of newspapers, including ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', ''
The Sunday Times (London)'', ''
South China Morning Post'', and ''
Australian Financial Review''. He travelled to South Sudan, Uganda and Kenya to write about modern-day slavery for ''The Atlantic Monthly'' in "The False Promise of Slave Redemption".
''Dow Jones Newswires''
Miniter worked for the Dow Jones Newswires during the summers of 1987 and 1988.
''Wall Street Journal'' Europe
Hired by ''The Wall Street Journal'' editor
Robert Bartley in 2000, Miniter was sent to
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
as an editorial page writer at ''The Wall Street Journal Europe'' and editor of its weekly "Business Europe" column. He also wrote a weekly column, "The Visible Hand", for ''The Wall Street Journals OpinionJournal.com.
Post-Journal
Miniter left the ''Journal'' after less than two years to take a position with the Centre for the New Europe in Brussels, Belgium. He left there after a short stint as a senior fellow.
''The Washington Times''
Miniter was the editorial page editor and Vice President of Opinion at ''
The Washington Times
''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughou ...
'' from March until October 2009.
Miniter later sued for breach of contract and other claims.
In September 2010, the case of Miniter v. Moon ''et al.'' and the related EEOC complaint was settled. Miniter refused to disclose the terms, but said "I am very, very happy with the equitable and just result."
''Forbes'' and investigative journalist
Miniter wrote the "National Security" column for Forbes.com. Miniter's June 2014 Forbes exposé of
President Joseph Kabila, the leader of the
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
, reportedly provoked Kabila's younger brother,
Zoe, to beat unconscious Congo parliament speaker
Évariste Boshab. The Kabila family accused Boshab of having been an anonymous source for Miniter's article, which estimated President Kabila had extracted and secreted away as much as $15 billion from the impoverished Congo.
National security columnist at Forbes.com
Miniter wrote a regular national security column for ''
Forbes.com
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family (publishers), Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing ...
''. and wrote about the growing al Qaeda presence in Africa—the same presence that has been implicated in the recent attacks in Benghazi, Libya.
American Media Institute
In 2012, Richard Miniter founded the
American Media Institute, a
501(3)(c) non-profit organization that provides investigative news stories to leading newspapers, magazines, radio and television news outlets around the world.
Richard Miniter's attendance at a controversial 2014 Passover dinner hosted by Israel's ambassador to the U.S. was revealed pursuant to an Israeli Supreme Court order in 2016.
Ambassador Ron Dermer had fought media requests for information about the gathering, but the court rejected his argument that Israel's national security required the guest list to remain secret. Miniter was one of three American journalists present at the Seder, which was also attended by
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
Books
''The Myth of Market Share''
Miniter's first book, ''The Myth of Market Share'', was published in 2002 by Crown Publishing, an imprint of
Random House
Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
. The book asserts that business strategy that focuses on increasing
market share is wrong-headed and distracts from profit-seeking. According to a review by ''The Washington Post'', the book "although at times repetitious ... makes it clear why there is zero correlation between profitability and market share."
''Losing bin Laden''
In 2003, Miniter's ''Losing bin Laden'', was published. The book is the result of eighteen months of reporting from
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
,
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
,
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
,
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, and
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
It offers an account of United States policy relating to Al Qaeda and bin Laden during the
Clinton administration. According to
George Will
George Frederick Will (born May 4, 1941) is an American libertarian-conservative political commentator and author. He writes regular columns for ''The Washington Post'' and provides commentary for NBC News and MSNBC. Gold, Hadas (May 8, 2017)." ...
,
Miniter suggests that the appointment of Clarke">ichardClarke on May 22, 1998, as the government's first coordinator of the counterterrorism efforts that were dispersed to 40 agencies, "could have been the beginning of the end of al Qaeda. But the lack of presidential leadership, government inertia and bureaucratic squabbling often got in the way."
It became a ''New York Times'' bestseller, peaking at number ten in September 2003. ''Losing bin Laden'' was cited on NBC's ''Meet the Press'' by host
Tim Russert
Timothy John Russert (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Wa ...
in an interview with
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic ...
.
Steve Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...
praised the book, stating that Miniter "tapped an extraordinary array of sources to piece this sorry tale together." Miniter appeared on CNN in 2006 and disputed portions of ABC's miniseries ''
The Path to 9/11'', which included a scene depicting Clinton National Security Advisor
Sandy Berger
Samuel Richard "Sandy" Berger (October 28, 1945 – December 2, 2015) was an attorney who served as the 18th US National Security Advisor for US President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001 after he had served as the Deputy National Security Adviso ...
as failing to kill bin Laden when presented with the opportunity to do so. Miniter stated on the ''Situation Room'' program that "if people wanted to be critical of the Clinton years there's things they could have said, but the idea that someone had bin Laden in his sights in 1998 or any other time and Sandy Berger refused to pull the trigger, there's zero factual basis for that."
The ''Washington Times'' printed a critical reply to the book from
Roger Cressey
Roger W. Cressey (born August 9, 1965) is a cyber security and counter-terrorism expert and served in senior positions under presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He is a former member of the United States National Security Council staff and ...
, a former member of the
United States National Security Council
The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Exe ...
staff during the Clinton administration, and Gayle Smith, who participated in the NSC as a Special Assistant to the President.
[Cressey, Roger and Gayle Smith. "Clinton NSC attacks Miniter: Claims bin Laden never offered up." ''Washington Times''. September 23, 2003.] Cressey and Smith characterized four specific allegations in the book as "erroneous," and questioned the veracity of Miniter's sources.
Miniter's rejoinder was published with Cressey and Smith's criticism.
''Shadow War''
Miniter's next book was based on research in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
,
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
,
Sudan,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
and the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. ''Shadow War: The Untold Story of How America is Winning the War on Terror'', became his second ''New York Times'' bestseller, debuting at number seven on the November 7, 2004 edition of the newspaper's non-fiction bestseller list.
''Disinformation''
''Disinformation: 22 Media Myths That Undermine the War on Terror'', was published by Regnery in 2005. Miniter traveled to Egypt, Sudan and corresponded with sources in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan while working on the book.
[Lopez, Kathyrn Jean. "Interrogatory: Myth Busting -- Getting at truths in the war on terror." ''National Review Online''. November 3, 2005.] Among other claims, Miniter asserts in the book that
Osama bin Laden was not on
dialysis.
[
]
''Jack Bauer for President''
Miniter edited a 2008 book entitled ''Jack Bauer for President: Terrorism and Politics in 24''. Published by BenBella Books
BenBella Books is an independent publishing house based in Dallas, Texas. BenBella was founded by Glenn Yeffeth in 2001. It specializes in nonfiction books on popular culture, business, health, and nutrition, along with books on science, politics, ...
, the volume "addresses how much of the show 24''.html"_;"title="24_(TV_series).html"_;"title="'24_(TV_series)">24''">24_(TV_series).html"_;"title="'24_(TV_series)">24''is_realistic_and_what_it_has_to_say_about_modern_politics_and_foreign_policy_in_America’s_fight_against_terrorism."
_''Mastermind''
Sentinel_(publisher).html" "title="24_(TV_series)">24''.html" ;"title="24_(TV_series).html" ;"title="'24 (TV series)">24''">24_(TV_series).html" ;"title="'24 (TV series)">24''is realistic and what it has to say about modern politics and foreign policy in America’s fight against terrorism."
''Mastermind''
Sentinel (publisher)">Sentinel
Sentinel may refer to:
Places Mountains
* Mount Sentinel, a mountain next to the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana
* Sentinel Buttress, a volcanic crag on James Ross Island, Antarctica
* Sentinel Dome, a naturally occurring grani ...
, a division of Penguin Group, published Miniter's 2011 book ''Mastermind'' about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. In the book, Miniter examines his subject's childhood in Kuwait and Pakistan and his college education in the United States. He draws conclusions about Mohammed's involvement in such events as the killing of
.
, published ''Leading From Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him'' in August, 2012, just as the 2012 presidential campaign entered its national phase. The book almost immediately became Miniter's third
best seller.
Miniter was attacked by CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen. Miniter's book alleged that Obama was indecisive and delayed when action was needed on the attack of bin Laden, which brought Bergen to state "Miniter's account of the intelligence that led to bin Laden and the decision-making surrounding the operation that killed him is a pile of poppycock served up with heaps of hogwash". Responding to this, Miniter wrote to CNN saying that reporters rely too heavily on White House officials and Pakistani government officials, and marginalize those who were actually present during the hours and days after the operation, hence standing behind his account detailed in his latest book.
''Publishers Weekly'' debuted Miniter's work as #13 on Week's Best Sellers in late August and discussed how Miniter's book received major press from publication through the election, appearance on Sean Hannity's television show and The Drudge Report, in addition to national television appearances, national radio shows, and so on.
, published ''Eyes on Target: Inside Stories from the Brotherhood of the U.S. Navy SEALs'' in February, 2014. This latest book, co-authored with Scott McEwen, chronicles the history and long standing traditions of the Navy SEALs and provides details on some of the key battles these brave men fought such as Red Wings and the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi.