Michael Isikoff

Michael Isikoff(born 1952) is an investigative journalist for the United States-based magazine Newsweek. Born in Syosset, New York. He joined the magazine as an investigative correspondent in June, 1994, and has written extensively on the US government’s War on Terrorism, the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse, campaign finance and congressional ethics abuses, presidential politics and other national issues.

Isikoff had been prepared to break the Monica Lewinsky scandal, but several hours before going to print, the article was killed by top Newsweek executives. As a result, the story broke first on Matt Drudge's Drudge Report the following morning. His book on the subject, Uncovering Clinton: A Reporter’s Story, was named Best Non-Fiction Book of 1999 by the Book of the Month Club. In January 2007, Isikoff married DC political gossip coulmnist Mary Ann Akers, currently a columnist at WashingtonPost.com.

Isikoff received his A.B. from Washington University in 1974, and obtained a masters in journalism from Northwestern University in 1976. He graduated from Syosset High School on Long Island in 1970. Isikoff is the co-author, with The Nation reporter David Corn, of Hubris, a 2006 book about the selling of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq to the US public and the ensuing Plame scandal.

His online column with fellow journalist Mark Hosenball, “Terror Watch,” won the 2005 award from the Society of Professional Journalists for best investigative reporting online. Isikoff was a part of the Newsweek team that won the Overseas Press Club’s most prestigious award, the 2001 Ed Cunningham Memorial Award for best magazine reporting from abroad for Newsweek’s coverage of the war on terror.

In the May 9, 2005 issue of Newsweek, Isikoff wrote an article that stated that interrogators at Guantanamo Bay "in an attempt to rattle suspects, flushed a Qur'an down a toilet." Detainees had earlier made similar complaints but this was the first time a government source had appeared to confirm the story. The article caused widespread rioting and massive anti-American protests throughout some parts of the Islamic world (causing at least 17 deaths in Afghanistan). The magazine later retracted the story after enormous pressure, noting that their sole anonymous source could not remember important details.

On June 3, 2005, a U.S. official report confirmed incidents of desecration of the Qu'ran by U.S. personnel. The facts are not totally consistent with the Newsweek report, but the substance of the report was confirmed. The official report said the book was splashed with urine (perhaps unintentionally), and was kicked and stepped on.

Since May, 2005, he's been a contributing blogger at The Huffington Post.