Perry Stein

Washington, D.C.

Reporter covering the Justice Department.

Education: Washington University in St. Louis, BA

Perry Stein covers the Justice Department and FBI for The Washington Post. She previously covered D.C. education. Before she joined The Post in 2015, she was a staff writer for Washington City Paper and wrote for the Miami Herald.
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Latest from Perry Stein

President Biden faces criticism over controversial pardon of his son Hunter

Some Democrats fear that Trump will use the pardon to criticize the justice system and bolster his own efforts to remake it.

December 2, 2024
Hunter Biden speaks to reporters in December 2023 amid a House investigation of his business affairs.

Amid worry about Trump, calls for career Justice Dept. staff to stay

Attorney General Merrick Garland and other top officials are urging career staffers to stay at the Justice Department during a second Trump administration.

December 2, 2024
Attorney General Merrick Garland is seen in 2023.

With D.C. case dismissed, Trump is no longer under federal indictment

Donald Trump’s election as president prompted special counsel Jack Smith to seek to drop the Jan. 6 case and remove him from the classified documents appeal.

November 25, 2024
Special counsel Jack Smith makes a statement from his office in Washington on June 9, 2023.

The Trump Trials: A December 2 to remember

A huge deadline is looming in Trump trials land right after Thanksgiving weekend.

November 24, 2024

Trump plans to fire Jack Smith’s team, use DOJ to probe 2020 election

The plans show how president-elect Donald Trump wants to use the Justice Department to address his own personal grievances.

November 22, 2024
Special counsel Jack Smith, seen in June 2023, plans to resign and wrap up his federal prosecutions of Trump before he takes office and can oust him.

Senate Democrats request Matt Gaetz case files from the FBI

The lawmakers are seeking all documents related to the now-closed sex trafficking investigation into Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general.

November 20, 2024
Then-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July.

Two women testified that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, lawyer says

An attorney representing two witnesses in the House Ethics Committee investigation is going public with allegations against Trump’s pick for attorney general 

November 18, 2024
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Feb. 23.

The Trump Trials: Inside counsel

Donald Trump’s personal lawyers are tapped for top Justice Department jobs, and other news from Trump’s four criminal cases.

November 17, 2024
Donald Trump alongside his attorney Todd Blanche after the conclusion of his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30 in New York.

Trump praises Cabinet-in-waiting as it stirs controversy in Washington

But Trump, clad in a tuxedo and surrounded by supporters, seemed undeterred by any dust his nominations might have kicked up.

November 14, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump attends the America First Policy Institute Gala held at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday. (Saul Martinez for The Washington Post)

Gaetz nomination brings new focus on underage sex allegations

Matt Gaetz’s nomination as attorney general has brought attention on allegations that he had sex with a 17-year-old girl; the DOJ dropped an investigation into those claims last year.

November 14, 2024
Matt Gaetz speaks at a campaign rally for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Henderson, Nevada, on October 31.