Melanie Hicken - Senior Writer, CNN Investigates
Melanie Hicken
Senior Writer, CNN Investigates
Melanie Hicken is an award-winning investigative reporter for CNN. Her work has exposed everything from widespread sexual abuse in nursing homes to one of the longest-running scams in history. It has also inspired legislative action and government investigation. Email her at watchdog@cnn.com.
Latest
Senate investigation into Coast Guard finds that sexual misconduct is a ‘pervasive problem’ throughout the service
Aug 7, 2024
Senators investigating misconduct within the US Coast Guard have heard from more than 80 whistleblowers whose stories detailed “systemic sexual assault and harassment, including a culture of silencing, retaliation, and failed accountability,” according to a report released Wednesday.
‘A deep moral rot’: Coast Guard leader grilled by senators at hearing on sexual assault cover-up
Jun 12, 2024
Senators say US Coast Guard leader has fostered a “culture of concealment,” withheld critical information from congressional investigators.
Coast Guard Academy official resigns, says she was directed to lie to Congress as part of ‘cruel’ sexual assault cover-up
Jun 11, 2024
A US Coast Guard Academy official says leaders directed her to lie to sexual assault victims and Congress, making her an unwitting accomplice in a cover-up of abuse.
Unmasking counterprotesters who attacked UCLA’s pro-Palestine encampment
May 16, 2024
Unmasking counterprotesters who attacked UCLA’s pro-Palestine encampment
Senator says Coast Guard used illegal agreements to silence sexual assault victims
Apr 8, 2024
US Coast Guard leaders illegally used nondisclosure agreements to prevent sexual assault victims from speaking out about their alleged attacks, according to a congressional inquiry sparked by a CNN report into sexual misconduct at the prestigious Coast Guard Academy.
Texas governor predicted donations would pay for busing migrants out of state. He’s collected less than 1% of that cost
Mar 15, 2024
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott boasted shortly after he began soliciting private donations for his controversial migrant busing program that there would likely “be no cost to the state” given the outpouring of support from concerned citizens across the country.But after nearly more than two years of fundraising to offset the program’s costs, Abbott’s operation has collected less than half of 1% of the roughly $150 million spent on busing migrants to sanctuary cities, according to a review of state records. And CNN found that the largest donation –$900,000 – never made it into the state’s coffers, either because it was a mistake or a prank.
Migrant children in open-air desert camps are suffering from hunger and hypothermia, court documents say
Feb 29, 2024
The young girl from Colombia hid in a porta potty to shield herself from the biting wind and cold as she and her parents waited at a makeshift camp along the southern border earlier this month.
Coast Guard leaders made list of reasons not to tell Congress about explosive sexual assault investigation, new records show
Feb 16, 2024
Records turned over to Congress this month reveal how top officials at the US Coast Guard engaged in a calculated plan to conceal the damning findings of an investigation into decades of sexual assault cases at the agency’s academy, going so far as to create a list of the pros and cons of being transparent.
Senators raise alarm about nation’s largest prison health care provider
Dec 19, 2023
The nation’s largest prison health care provider has come under fire from a group of Democratic senators who say they are alarmed the government contractor’s chronic understaffing and cost-cutting measures may have put inmates’ lives in danger.
‘No consequences’: Women testify about sexual harassment and assault at Coast Guard Academy
Dec 13, 2023
Four women who say they were subjected to sexual assault and harassment at the US Coast Guard Academy testified to Congress on Tuesday about how they were silenced, retaliated against and left battling severe mental trauma while alleged perpetrators continued to thrive within the service.
Four women to testify at Senate hearing about sexual harassment and assault at Coast Guard Academy
Dec 12, 2023
Four women who attended the US Coast Guard Academy, including a current cadet, are expected to appear at a congressional hearing Tuesday and testify that the agency’s leaders failed to protect them from sexual harassment and assault.
House Oversight Committee launches investigation into Coast Guard after CNN report
Dec 8, 2023
The House Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into the US Coast Guard’s “mishandling of serious misconduct” — including sexual assault, racism and hazing — after CNN exposed that its leaders concealed reports documenting those problems from its workforce, the public and Congress.
‘Change is necessary’: Coast Guard pledges reforms after mishandling reports of sexual assault
Dec 6, 2023
The US Coast Guard, rocked by allegations that its leaders for years concealed damning information about sexual assaults and other serious misconduct, released a highly critical report Wednesday acknowledging it had “failed to keep our people safe,” while vowing to make reforms that would better protect them.
US Coast Guard leaders long concealed a critical report about racism, hazing and sexual misconduct
Nov 30, 2023
For nearly a decade, US Coast Guard leaders have concealed a critical report that exposed racism, hazing, discrimination and sexual assault across the agency.
Coast Guard Academy banned a retired captain from its grounds after CNN reported he sexted a student. Now more allegations are surfacing.
Sep 22, 2023
The US Coast Guard Academy on Friday announced it had banned a retired captain from its grounds following a CNN report this week that revealed the captain, who is now president of a small college, exchanged hundreds of sexually suggestive messages with a student more than a decade ago.
About
Melanie Hicken is an award-winning investigative reporter for CNN. Her work has exposed everything from widespread sexual abuse in nursing homes to one of the longest-running scams in history. It has also inspired legislative action and government investigation.
Hicken and her longtime reporting partner, Blake Ellis’s groundbreaking investigation into the secret world of government debt collectors won the prestigious Heywood Broun Award of Distinction and inspired lawmakers to take action with legislation aimed at closing the loophole highlighted in the stories. They were finalists for a Peabody Award for CNN’s coverage of guns in America, and the two journalists have been honored by the International Association of Broadcasting, the National Press Club, the National Endowment for Financial Education, the Radio Television Digital News Association and the National Association of Consumer Advocates. Hicken regularly appears on CNN and other television and radio networks to discuss her investigations
Before joining CNN, Hicken worked for the Los Angeles Times Community News group, where she won awards for her local government coverage and investigative reports. She is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School and holds a master’s degree in business and economic reporting from New York University.
Email her at watchdog@cnn.com.
