And, while intensely private, Griffin took great care to wrap up the big stories – some of which swept him across the world – so he could get home and spend time with his family.Ĭolleagues remembered the veteran journalist as a kind, consummate professional who took the time to mentor younger reporters, cared deeply about his team – and was always ready to lend a hand.ĭiCarlo compared her time working with Griffin to “winning the career lottery.” Few in the audience would know that after those hard-hitting interviews, Griffin would often craft hand-written thank you notes to those who appeared in a story. Griffin’s confidence, hard work and doggedness spoke for itself on camera, yet it was his graciousness and compassion that defined him behind the scenes. Among his more memorable on-air moments was during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, when he rescued a man by pulling him from a sinking pickup truck. While investigative journalism was at the heart of Griffin’s work, he often jumped into breaking news coverage – from mass shootings to devastating hurricanes. More recently, Griffin’s body of work in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol exposed the dangers of election deniers and was cited in court filings by the Department of Justice and House select committee investigating the insurrection. Griffin’s investigation resulted in a legislative probe and a public apology from the director of the program. He finally tracked down the head of California’s Health and Human Services Agency, who tried dodging Griffin’s questions by running to a restroom, which was locked. When Griffin learned of the rampant fraud in California’s state drug rehab program in 2013, he pressed the officials in charge for answers. There were times, though, when Griffin, like all reporters, could not get his subjects to talk right away – resulting in memorable on-camera confrontations with government officials, in particular. After reviewing the so-called evidence, Griffin sat down with Lindell for a lengthy interview to evaluate his claims and, ultimately, laid out the truth: Lindell had “proof of nothing.” When election denialism persisted, Griffin worked to dispel the myths of widespread election fraud, confronting one of the biggest names in misinformation: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. In an exclusive interview, Griffin pressed a former Trump University instructor about his role in the scheme – not teaching real estate strategies, but luring participants into paying for more seminars: “We were bringing in the money,” he told Griffin. Griffin’s incisive, Emmy-award winning investigation into fraud claims against Trump University in 2016 exposed the questionable, financially draining tactics of a series of real estate seminars that resulted in class action lawsuits by participants. Still, he never missed an opportunity to grill them with tough questions. Griffin’s tenacious approach toward the most challenging stories and his ability to get some of the most reluctant public figures to open up and give their side of the story underscored his sense of fairness. “You know when a Drew Griffin story starts – it’s going to be great,” she said. Patricia DiCarlo, Executive Producer of CNN’s investigative unit who worked alongside Griffin for nearly a decade said Griffin was an exceptional writer who crafted pieces into “compelling, must-see TV stories.” Following the CNN investigation, Uber announced it would do away with a policy that previously forced individuals with sexual assault complaints into arbitration and made them sign non-disclosure agreements. ![]() The team’s reporting led to the resignation of the VA secretary, which was followed by the passage of federal legislation and a fundamental change in how veterans’ appointments are handled.Īmid his reporting into the high number of sexual assaults allegations against Uber drivers, the company changed its background check process and introduced new safety features in its app. He led a yearlong investigation that uncovered delays in medical care that contributed to patient deaths at Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals nationwide. Griffin’s reporting had significant impact and prompted change. ![]() “How many times has he chased an unwilling interviewee? How many times has he spoken truth to power? How many times has he made a difference on something important … It was an honor to be his colleague and to be witness to his work and the ways it changed the world.” “Fearless and artful at the same time, he knew how to push a story forward to its limits, but also tell it in a way that would make everyone understand,” Bass said. Michael Bass, CNN’s Executive Vice President of Programming, also shared his admiration for Griffin in a note to the investigative team Sunday. He kept his illness private from most of his co-workers and had been reporting up until the day he passed. Griffin had an incredibly strong work ethic, colleagues said.
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