Casey Tolan - Senior Writer, CNN Investigates
Casey Tolan
Senior Writer, CNN Investigates
Casey Tolan is a senior writer for CNN's investigative unit, where he's worked since March 2020.
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Police report reveals new details from sexual assault allegation against Trump’s defense secretary nominee
Nov 21, 2024
A California woman told police that Trump Cabinet pick Pete Hegseth physically blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her phone, and then sexually assaulted her even though she “remembered saying ‘no’ a lot,” a police report obtained by CNN shows.
Trump Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth was involved in investigation into 2017 sexual assault allegation
Nov 15, 2024
Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, was involved in a police investigation into an alleged sexual assault in 2017, local officials in California confirmed Thursday night.
‘January 6th is going to be pretty fun’: How MAGA activists are preparing to undermine the election if Trump loses
Oct 31, 2024
Before Election Day has even arrived, the “Stop the Steal” movement has reemerged in force, with some of the same activists who tried to overturn former President Donald Trump’s 2020 loss outlining a step-by-step guide to undermine the results if he falls short again.
Misleading text messages from ‘voter mobilization’ group create confusion in key swing states
Oct 30, 2024
Thousands of voters in Pennsylvania received a confusing text message this weekend claiming they already voted in the 2024 presidential election.
At least 30 election deniers and 2020 fake electors serving as Trump electors this year
Oct 17, 2024
More than a dozen Republicans who were “fake electors” in 2020, including several facing criminal charges, are serving as former President Donald Trump’s official electors in battleground states this year, according to a CNN survey.
‘We are fed up’: Ballot drop boxes are dividing neighbors in Wisconsin
Oct 16, 2024
In one conservative Wisconsin county, the sheriff appeared onstage at a Donald Trump campaign rally last week to brag about his efforts to ban ballot drop boxes.
Why the Harris campaign has spent $11 million on a Facebook page with 1,000 followers
Oct 15, 2024
As Donald Trump and Kamala Harris feverishly chase undecided voters in the final stretch of the presidential campaign, millions of people in battleground states are being served ads on Facebook and Instagram from an obscure page calling itself “The Daily Scroll.”
Senate candidate Dave McCormick led hedge fund that bet against some of Pennsylvania’s most iconic companies
Oct 9, 2024
From Ukraine to Hawaii, odd behavior of suspect in apparent Trump assassination attempt suggested ‘delusion of grandeur’
Sep 17, 2024
The man suspected of trying to assassinate former President Donald Trump on Sunday depicted himself on social media as a globe-trotting freedom fighter – tweeting at world leaders, traveling to Ukraine to support its war effort, and professing his willingness to die for the causes he believed in.
Georgia high school shooting suspect referenced Parkland massacre in writings found in his bedroom, source says
Sep 6, 2024
Authorities searching the home of the teen accused of a Georgia school shooting this week found documents that they believe he wrote referencing past school shootings, a source says
Trump’s businesses are raking in millions of dollars from Republican political campaigns – including his own
Aug 23, 2024
Republican candidates and political groups are on track to spend more on Trump’s businesses this year than any year since 2016, federal campaign finance data shows.
Trump’s financial disclosure shows millions made from licensing deals but costly civil judgments
Aug 16, 2024
Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosure documents released Thursday show he made millions from licensing deals and book royalties capitalizing on his fame, alongside significant civil judgements against the former president in New York.
Hidden-camera video shows Project 2025 co-author discussing his secret work preparing for a second Trump term
Aug 15, 2024
Russell Vought, a co-author of Project 2025, was caught on a secretly recorded video saying that Trump’s denials of any connection with the conservative policy blueprint were politics.
Investigators piece together a puzzling portrait of the shooter who sought to assassinate Trump
Jul 19, 2024
In some ways, Thomas Crooks seems similar to other young men who’ve wreaked havoc across the US with high-powered assault-style rifles, officials say.
Trump’s team wasn’t told about reports of suspicious person before rally shooting, sources say
Jul 18, 2024
Members of Trump’s team weren’t told that law enforcement was trying to locate Thomas Crooks in the minutes before he took the stage.
A shooting range, a gun store, and a ladder purchase: Tracking the Trump rally gunman’s movements leading up to his attack
Jul 16, 2024
As investigators continue to search for a motive behind the attempted assassination, they are scrutinizing Crooks’ actions in the days and hours before the shooting.
About
Casey Tolan is a senior writer for CNN’s investigative unit, where he’s worked since March 2020. He specializes in using data to find and report stories on issues such as money in politics, criminal justice and climate. He’s written about workers injured on the job, hospitals suing their patients and Covid-19 outbreaks in prisons.
Previously, Tolan worked as the political reporter for the San Jose Mercury News and the East Bay Times, where he covered California politics and the state’s relationship with the Trump administration. Before that, he was a national reporter for Fusion, where he covered immigration and criminal justice. He’s also written for Slate, The Daily Beast, VICE, and The Texas Observer, among other outlets.
Tolan’s past investigative reporting has been cited in a death row inmate’s final appeal, a federal criminal complaint charging political scammers with defrauding donors, and a Harvard Law Review article on criminal justice written by President Obama.
Tolan grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and graduated from Columbia University.
