Russ Buettner is an American
investigative journalist
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...
who works for ''
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 ...
''. In 2019 he and two colleagues received the
Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting
The Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting has been presented since 1998, for a distinguished example of explanatory reporting that illuminates a significant and complex subject, demonstrating mastery of the subject, lucid writing and clear pr ...
for a 2018 series of articles about the finances of
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
.
Buettner graduated from
Sacramento State University
California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is the eleventh oldest school in the 23-campus California ...
, where he wrote for the student newspaper, ''The State Hornet''. He subsequently attended the
Missouri School of Journalism
The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic comm ...
. Since 1992 he has reported from the New York City area.
Before joining the ''Times'' in 2006 he worked at ''
The New York Daily News
The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in t ...
'' and ''
New York Newsday
''New York Newsday'' was an American daily newspaper that primarily served New York City and was sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The paper, established in 1985, was a New York City-specific offshoot of ''Newsday'', a Long Island- ...
''. He was part of the ''Times'' team that investigated and published Trump's 1995 state tax returns, after they were anonymously mailed to his colleague
Susanne Craig
Susanne Craig is a Canadian investigative journalist who works at ''The New York Times''. She was the reporter who was anonymously mailed Donald Trump's 1995 tax returns during the 2016 presidential election. In 2018, she was an author of ''The ...
in October 2016. The ''Times'' analysis found that he had declared a $916 million loss that year, which could have allowed him to pay no taxes at all for 18 subsequent years. Since then the primary focus of Beuttner's research and reporting has been Trump's personal finances.
In June 2016 he and a colleague wrote a widely cited report about Trump's bankrupt Atlantic City casinos, saying that Trump put very little of his own money into those enterprises while collecting millions of dollars in salary, bonuses, and other payments.
In 2018 Buettner and colleagues reported that despite Trump's claims to be a self-made billionaire, he had actually received more than $400 million (in 2018 dollars) from his father
Fred Trump
Frederick Christ Trump Sr. (October 11, 1905 – June 25, 1999) was an American real estate developer and businessman. A member of the Trump family, he was the father of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States.
In partnership w ...
, most of it in ways that avoided paying gift or inheritance tax. The 13,000 word report was one of the longest investigative articles ever published by the ''Times''. The 2019
Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting
The Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting has been presented since 1998, for a distinguished example of explanatory reporting that illuminates a significant and complex subject, demonstrating mastery of the subject, lucid writing and clear pr ...
was awarded to authors Buettner, Craig, and
David Barstow
David Barstow (born 1963) is an American journalist and professor. While a reporter at ''The New York Times'' from 1999 to 2019, Barstow was awarded, individually or jointly, four Pulitzer Prizes, becoming the first reporter in the history of the ...
"For an exhaustive 18-month investigation of President Donald Trump’s finances that debunked his claims of self-made wealth and revealed a business empire riddled with tax dodges".
He and the same two colleagues also received the 2019
George Polk Award
The George Polk Awards in Journalism are a series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS, described the award ...
for Political Reporting.
In September 2020 the ''Times'' team acquired more than two decades' worth of Trump's tax records, including the first two years of his presidency. Their reporting showed that he paid no federal income taxes in ten out of the preceding fifteen years, and only $750 in each of two other years. They described "struggling properties, vast write-offs, an audit battle and hundreds of millions in debt coming due."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beuttner, Russ
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
California State University, Sacramento alumni
Missouri School of Journalism alumni
The New York Times writers
Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism winners
George Polk Award recipients