Alumni

Eric Cortellessa is a senior political correspondent at TIME magazine, covering Donald Trump and national politics. He has written more than a dozen cover stories and has led the magazine’s coverage of the Jan. 6 Committee, the 2024 presidential campaign and the second Trump Administration.

He has interviewed other world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and he wrote the 2024 TIME Person of the Year cover story on Donald Trump. Cortellessa’s reporting revealed that former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan approved state contracts that benefited clients of his private real estate firm-- from which he had not divested. The investigation prompted the state legislature to unanimously pass stricter ethics laws, requiring governors to place their financial holdings in a blind trust.

Previously he was the Washington Monthly’s investigative editor, and his writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, the New Republic, Slate and The Buffalo News. Eric is a long-suffering Buffalo Bills fan and 16-year season ticket holder. He lives in Washington, D.C.