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CNN investigative journalist Drew Griffin dies at 60

By Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Drew Griffin CNN reporter Drew Griffin poses with his award at The 74th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street on May 31, 2015 in New York City. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Peabody Awards, File)

By Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Investigative journalist Drew Griffin died Saturday following a long fight with cancer, family members said, according to CNN. He was 60.

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Griffin had been a correspondent for CNN since May 2004, following 10 years at KCBS-TV. During his decadeslong career, his work earned him accolades including Peabody and Emmy awards.

“Drew’s death is a devastating loss to CNN and our entire profession,” CNN CEO Chris Licht said in a note to staff, according to the news network. “A highly acclaimed investigative journalist, Drew’s work had incredible impact and embodied the mission of this organization in every way.”

“CNN This Morning” co-anchor Don Lemon got emotional Monday morning as he announced Griffin’s passing.

“It is a very sad morning for the CNN family here because there is no one we’d rather have sitting with us right now than our award-winning senior investigative correspondent, and that is Drew Griffin,” Lemon later said. “We wish he was here because he’s not just a colleague but a very dear friend.”

Griffin won an Emmy Award in 2017 for his coverage of Trump University, the real estate training program operated by former president Donald Trump’s Trump Organization from 2005 until 2010. He also earned Emmys for reports on congressional spending, how thieves target banks and credit cards, and flaws in Ford vehicles that caused them to catch fire.

In 2015, Griffin won a Peabody Award for leading a CNN investigation into more than a dozen military veterans who had died due to appointment delays at hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The subsequent coverage prompted the resignation of then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and led Congress to pass legislation allowing veterans to seek care outside the department.

In a note Sunday to CNN’s investigative team, the network’s executive vice president of programming, Michael Bass, remembered Griffin as “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,” he said, according to CNN. “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?”

Griffin is survived by his wife, Margot; his daughter, Ele Gast; his sons, Louis and Miles Griffin; and two grandchildren, CNN reported.

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