On Wednesday, The Federalist staff won the 2025 Dao Grand Prize for Investigative Journalism for their work covering the Russia Collusion hoax.
The Federalist received the highest honor at the close of the ceremony thanks in large part due to the tireless work of our editor-in-chief, Mollie Hemingway, and our senior legal correspondent, Margot Cleveland. Some of The Federalist’s exclusive, deep-dive reporting into the hoax include: “EXCLUSIVE: DOJ Official Who Approved $2 Million Payout To Disgraced Russia Hoaxers Identified As Left-Wing Activist Brian Netter;” “Exclusive: Liz Cheney, January 6 Committee Suppressed Exonerating Evidence Of Trump’s Push For National Guard;” “EXCLUSIVE: Clapper Crew Threatened Whistleblower Who Refused To Sign Off On Fabricated Intel Assessment;” and “EXCLUSIVE: Henchmen Behind Brennan’s Fake Russia Collusion Assessment Are Still At The CIA.”
Reporting on the Russia Collusion hoax is part of The Federalist’s years-long national security investigation in which our reporters obtained sensitive, never-before-seen material and turned it into stories that cut through the left-wing narrative to expose the massive hoax.
The Federalist team spent years digging through transcripts and documents, obtaining exclusive material, and scouring through testimony to uncover the top-down corruption plaguing our intelligence agencies that set out to take down a duly elected president.
The Federalist was met with obstacle after obstacle for its groundbreaking reporting, including attempts of censorship by Big Tech, who frequently labeled the reporting as “misinformation.”
But The Federalist, dedicated to truth and transparency, pushed forward.
The Dao Prize is funded by the Dao Feng and Angela Foundation, and was “founded to recognize excellence in investigative journalism,” according to YAF. Dao Feng and Angela immigrated to the states from China and “hope to revive the American media’s spirit of curiosity, skepticism, and vigor,” according to YAF.















