David Shortell - Crime and Justice Producer
David Shortell
Crime and Justice Producer
David Shortell covers the Justice Department and federal law enforcement issues out of CNN's Washington bureau.
Latest
Controversial judicial reform passes Mexican Senate after protesters break into chamber
Sep 11, 2024
Mexican lawmakers were forced to suspend debate on a controversial judicial reform after protesters broke down the doors of the Senate building and forced their way into the upper house’s session hall.
Judges may soon have to run for election in Mexico. Critics say that’s bad news for its democracy
Sep 5, 2024
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has long been critical of his country’s Supreme Court as it stood in the way of some of his signature policy proposals. This month, as he closes out his six-year term in office, he appears poised to remake the entire judiciary in his mold.
What to expect in Venezuela’s presidential election as strongman Maduro faces his biggest test yet
Jul 21, 2024
Millions of Venezuelans are expected to cast their ballots on Sunday, July 28, in what many see as the most consequential election in the country since strongman leader Nicolás Maduro came to power more than a decade ago.
As cartels take a stake in ‘green gold,’ US and Mexico rethink how avocados reach American kitchens
Jul 13, 2024
When two US avocado inspectors were assaulted and detained at a police roadblock in the Mexican state of Michoacán last month, it sparked a costly international crisis.
Hats and gloves come out as coldest May since 1950 grips Chile’s capital region
May 18, 2024
Straphangers at bus stops clutch steaming coffees and huddle for warmth. On the horizon, views of the Andes are as spectacular as ever, their snow-capped peaks gleaming extra bright after an early season storm
Bodies, pickup truck found in Mexican region where American and Australian tourists went missing, sources say
May 4, 2024
Three bodies were found Friday in the Mexican region where an American and two Australians have been missing for several days, multiple sources told CNN.
Sunday’s presidential election in Panama is ‘most important’ in decades, say experts
May 4, 2024
Panama, the Central American nation at the crossroads of international trade and migration, will elect a new president on Sunday after a campaign season mired in legal uncertainty.
Why a Brazilian UFC star is championing a dead Austrian economist
Apr 29, 2024
In Latin America, the Austrian-American laissez-faire proponent Ludwig von Mises, who died in 1973, is having something of a moment.
In Mexico’s supersized election, a wave of assassinations has put democracy itself in the crosshairs
Apr 12, 2024
Political candidates across the country are being killed as criminal groups seek to clear the field for their preferred picks.
‘Outrage against international law’: Mexico breaks diplomatic ties with Ecuador over embassy raid
Apr 7, 2024
Mexico has announced that it is breaking diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police raided its embassy in Quito to arrest former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas.
Colombia expels Argentine diplomats after Milei calls Petro ‘terrorist murderer’ in CNN interview
Mar 29, 2024
The Colombian government has ordered the expulsion of all Argentine diplomats from the country’s embassy in Bogotá following a CNN interview in which the Argentine president called his Colombian counterpart a “terrorist murderer.”
Ecuador’s youngest mayor shot dead, police say
Mar 26, 2024
Ecuador’s youngest mayor, 27-year-old Brigitte García, was found shot dead Sunday morning, the country’s national police said.
Former Honduran president found guilty in drug trafficking trial
Mar 8, 2024
Former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernández was found guilty Friday of drug trafficking by an American jury after a two-week trial in Manhattan federal court.
‘Our people are here to stay’: World Court hears arguments over Israeli occupation of Palestinian-claimed land
Feb 19, 2024
The International Court of Justice began hearing historic oral arguments Monday over the Israeli occupation of territory claimed by Palestinians, thrusting the decades-old debate before a panel of international judges as the region remains locked in an unprecedented war.
Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny dies, prison service says
Feb 17, 2024
Jailed Russian opposition figure and outspoken Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny, who made global headlines when he was poisoned with a nerve agent in 2020, has died, the Russian prison service said.
In shock result, allies of jailed ex-leader Khan win most seats in Pakistan election
Feb 10, 2024
Independent candidates affiliated with jailed Pakistani political leader Imran Khan’s Tehreek E Insaaf (PTI) party won the most National Assembly seats in Pakistan’s general election, delivering a surprise victory in a vote marred by a slow count and rigging allegations.
About
David Shortell covers the Justice Department and federal law enforcement issues out of CNN’s Washington bureau. He’s reported from the halls of DOJ under Attorneys General Jeff Sessions and William Barr, and from the scene of major crimes across the country, including the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh and the Sante Fe High School shooting south of Houston. Before that, he worked on the assignment desk in CNN’s New York bureau covering breaking news, which included at the time several ISIS-related attacks and arrests. He is originally from West Hartford, Connecticut, and graduated from Emory University in Atlanta.
