Anthony Cormier

Cormier graduated from Florida State University in 2000 with a degree in creative writing.^[1]

Working at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Cormier and Matt Doug exposed how Florida police officers with multiple complaints and crimes were able to keep their jobs.^[2] Their series of reports, "Unfit for Duty", earned them the 2011 "Print/Online – Small" award from Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE),^[3][4] and the Herald-Tribune the 2012 EPPY award for Best Investigative/Enterprise Feature on a Website with under 1 million unique monthly visitors.^[2][5]

His investigative work with Michael Braga led to a series of reports on how Florida bankers illegally looted their banks during the real estate boom.^[6] The series, "Breaking the Banks", led to lawsuits by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and indictments against three bankers.^[6] Cormier and Braga received the 2013 "Print/Online – Small" award for the series from IRE, and the 2013 Best in Business award from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.^[6][7][8]

Cormier joined the Tampa Bay Times in 2015.^[9] Cormier received the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting together with Leonora LaPeter Anton, also of the Times, and Braga, who was still with the Sarasota Hearald-Tribune.^[1] Their series of reports, "Insane. Invisible. In danger.", detailed the devastating effects of recurring deep budget cuts in the Florida mental health system.^[10] The fallout from the series led to an increase in state appropriations and new legislation aimed at fixing systemic problems.^[1]

Cormier earned the 2017 Gerald Loeb Award for Investigative business journalism for "Allegiant Air".^[11]

Cormier joined the BuzzFeed News Investigative Unit in early 2017.^[12]

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Investigative Reporters and Editors

Investigative Reporters and Editors

Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. (IRE) is a nonprofit organization that focuses on improving the quality of journalism, in particular investigative journalism. Formed in 1975, it presents the IRE Awards and holds conferences and training classes for journalists. Its headquarters is in Columbia, Missouri, at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. It is the largest and oldest association of investigative journalism.

EPpy Awards

EPpy Awards

The EPPY Awards are a premier accolade for media-affiliated websites, presented by Editor & Publisher magazine. Designed in 1996 to honor newspaper companies that did an "outstanding job in creating online services," the awards were originally given in partnership between Mediaweek and Editor & Publisher and named the Best Online Newspaper Services Competition, and presented at the end of the Interactive Newspaper Conference.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is a United States government corporation supplying deposit insurance to depositors in American commercial banks and savings banks. The FDIC was created by the Banking Act of 1933, enacted during the Great Depression to restore trust in the American banking system. More than one-third of banks failed in the years before the FDIC's creation, and bank runs were common. The insurance limit was initially US$2,500 per ownership category, and this was increased several times over the years. Since the enactment of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010, the FDIC insures deposits in member banks up to $250,000 per ownership category. FDIC insurance is backed by the full faith and credit of the government of the United States of America, and according to the FDIC, "since its start in 1933 no depositor has ever lost a penny of FDIC-insured funds".

Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing

Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing

The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing is an association of business journalists. Originally founded as the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, in 2018, it changed its name "as part of a broader effort to embrace a global focus on business journalism." Its headquarters is at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona.

Leonora LaPeter Anton

Leonora LaPeter Anton

Leonora LaPeter Anton is an American journalist with the Tampa Bay Times. Anton was a co-recipient of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting.

Gerald Loeb Award

Gerald Loeb Award

The Gerald Loeb Award, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was established in 1957 by Gerald Loeb, a founding partner of E.F. Hutton & Co. Loeb's intention in creating the award was to encourage reporters to inform and protect private investors as well as the general public in the areas of business, finance and the economy.

On 18 January 2019, Cormier co-authored an explosive report that alleged Donald Trump directed his personal lawyer Michael D. Cohen to lie to Congress about the Moscow tower project,^[13] a construction deal at the heart of an investigation by the special counsel Robert Mueller. The report attracted attention because such an action by Trump would constitute a felony.^[14] Democratic congressmen publicly mused impeachment.

The report came under scrutiny, however, after Mueller broke precedent by issuing a denial and other news organisations were unable to corroborate the findings with reports of their own.^[15]

On April 5, 2019, Cormier co-authored a story that was presented as an update to the January 2019 story. The April story referenced a 12-page memo submitted by Cohen's legal counsel to Congress that said President Trump "encouraged Cohen to lie and say all Moscow Tower project contacts ended as of January 31, 2016 using 'code' language."^[16] Subsequently, on April 18, 2019, the original Cohen report was updated to state that the "Mueller report found that Trump did not direct Michael Cohen to lie."^[17]