Joshua Kaplan: ProPublica Reporter, Pulitzer Winner & Biography

Joshua Kaplan is one of the most consequential investigative journalists working in American media right now. If you’ve heard the name, it’s most likely because of the blockbuster Supreme Court reporting he and his ProPublica colleagues published in 2023 — reporting that directly forced the highest court in the land to adopt an ethics code for the first time in its history. This profile covers everything that’s publicly known about his background, career, awards, and what he’s been working on since.

People searching “Joshua Kaplan Wikipedia” are typically looking for a quick biography. There’s no dedicated Wikipedia page for him at this time, but this guide pulls verified facts from ProPublica’s own published bylines, the Pulitzer Prize Board’s official citation, and multiple credible news organizations that have profiled his work.

Background: Who Is Joshua Kaplan?

Joshua Kaplan is a reporter at ProPublica, the nonprofit investigative newsroom based in New York City. He joined the organization in January 2020 and has built a reputation as someone who goes after stories that powerful institutions would very much prefer stayed buried.

Before ProPublica, Kaplan wrote a criminal justice column for the Washington City Paper in Washington, D.C. That work covered police misconduct during undercover operations and the legal tactics prosecutors used to strip defendants of their right to a jury trial. He also reported on mental health care inside D.C. schools, psychiatric hospitals, and addiction treatment facilities, including a series on mismanagement inside the city’s Department of Behavioral Health.

What sets Kaplan apart from most journalists is that he didn’t come through the traditional journalism school pipeline. He holds a mathematics degree from the University of Chicago — a hard science background that shapes the way he builds and stress-tests complex investigative findings before publishing them.

Latest Update

As of July 28, 2026

As of today, July 28, 2026, Joshua Kaplan continues to work as an active reporter at ProPublica. He is not trending for personal reasons — no death, scandal, arrest, or health issue has been reported or can be confirmed. People are searching for him primarily because his investigative work continues to generate major national headlines.

His most significant recent story came in late November 2025, when he and colleagues Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski published a ProPublica investigation revealing that a Republican consulting firm with personal ties to then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem had secretly received a share of a $220 million taxpayer-funded advertising campaign. The contracts bypassed normal competitive bidding procedures. Within days, five U.S. senators and two members of Congress formally demanded documents and an investigation from DHS.

The story had direct real-world consequences. In March 2026, Noem testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and, according to ProPublica reporting co-bylined by Kaplan, misled Congress about the role her controversial top aide Corey Lewandowski had in approving DHS contracts. Trump later removed Noem from the Secretary role. A contemporaneous media review in the Columbia Journalism Review noted that Senator John Kennedy’s pointed questions to Noem — which helped precipitate her ouster — drew directly from the facts Kaplan and his team had published.

His ProPublica author page, last updated in early 2026, lists his total career honors as: one Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, two George Polk Awards, the Selden Ring Award, an Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) medal, and an Edward R. Murrow Award. These are among the most respected recognitions in American journalism.

Full Profile

Family and Early Life

Joshua Kaplan has not shared personal details about his family, upbringing, or hometown in any publicly available interview or profile as of the date of this writing. His birthdate is also not publicly documented. These details are genuinely absent from the public record — not omitted here through oversight. Any source claiming specific personal background details beyond what ProPublica has published directly should be treated with skepticism.

Career Path

Before ProPublica, Kaplan’s journalism career was rooted in local accountability reporting in Washington, D.C. His column at the Washington City Paper on criminal justice covered ground that most reporters avoided — specifically, how police officers in undercover prostitution stings were racking up arrests without strong evidence, and how prosecutors were denying defendants constitutionally guaranteed jury trials. That kind of granular, institution-focused reporting is exactly the skillset ProPublica was looking for when they brought him on in January 2020.

At ProPublica, his early years covered a wide range of national subjects — the U.S. military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, and a sustained investigation into undercover police misconduct in New York City. But everything changed in 2023 when he became one of three lead reporters on the Clarence Thomas investigation.

The Supreme Court Series That Changed Everything

In April 2023, Kaplan and his colleagues Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski published the first story in what would become a landmark investigative series. The opening piece revealed that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had, for over 20 years, accepted luxury vacations, private jet travel, and other significant gifts from Harlan Crow — a billionaire Republican donor and real estate investor — without ever disclosing any of it on the mandatory financial forms federal judges are required to file.

Crow’s yacht, the Michaela Rose, typically operated with a crew of roughly two dozen. When Thomas and his wife traveled on it, the cost of chartering such a vessel for nine days could exceed half a million dollars. None of it appeared on Thomas’s disclosures. The ProPublica team found this by doing something unglamorous and methodical: they started cold-calling the crew members of the yacht and other transportation staff.

The series didn’t stop at Thomas. Follow-up investigations revealed Thomas had attended Koch Network donor summits — events organized by a political network that had brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court — and that he had sold property to Crow that included the house where Thomas’s own mother was living. A parallel investigation exposed that Justice Samuel Alito had accepted luxury fishing trips paid for by billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer, who also had cases pending before the court. The cumulative effect was seismic: the Supreme Court, which had never had a formal ethics code, adopted one for the first time in its history.

Age

Joshua Kaplan’s age and date of birth are not publicly available. His ProPublica bio, his Pulitzer Prize listing, and all major profiles of his work omit this information entirely. This article will not speculate or estimate his age.

Religion

Kaplan has not publicly discussed his religious beliefs or background in any source reviewed for this article. This detail is unconfirmed and should not be assumed.

Spouse and Partner

Kaplan has not disclosed details about a spouse, partner, or relationship status in any publicly available profile. This information is unconfirmed.

Net Worth

Kaplan’s salary and net worth are not publicly disclosed. ProPublica is a nonprofit organization, and its staff reporters do not appear on financial disclosure registries. No reliable estimate is available. Any figure cited elsewhere without a credible primary source should be treated as unconfirmed.

Parents

No verified information about Joshua Kaplan’s parents is available in any publicly documented source. This is not a gap in research — it reflects the fact that Kaplan maintains a deliberate separation between his professional public profile and his personal background.

Height

Kaplan’s height is not documented in any publicly available source and is unconfirmed.

Education

Kaplan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from the University of Chicago. This is confirmed across multiple authoritative sources including his ProPublica biography, the Pulitzer Prize Board’s official citation, and his listings in journalism awards databases. He has not publicly discussed graduate study or additional academic credentials.

Hometown and State of Origin

Kaplan’s hometown and state of origin are not publicly documented. Based on his professional history, he spent time in Washington, D.C., before joining ProPublica, but his city or state of birth is unconfirmed.

Official Contact and Social Media

Kaplan does not maintain a high-profile public social media presence. ProPublica publicly lists his contact information for journalistic tip purposes: email at [email protected] and Signal or WhatsApp at 734-834-9383. He has an X (formerly Twitter) presence under the handle @_jkaplan, where he occasionally posts about journalism and his published work.

Reader Questions (FAQ)

Who is Joshua Kaplan and why is he famous?

Joshua Kaplan is an investigative reporter at ProPublica who became widely known in 2023 for co-leading a major investigation into undisclosed gifts and luxury travel received by U.S. Supreme Court justices — primarily Justice Clarence Thomas — from wealthy political donors. That investigation won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and pushed the Supreme Court to adopt a code of ethics for the first time in its history. He has continued producing major accountability journalism since.

Does Joshua Kaplan have a Wikipedia page?

As of July 28, 2026, there is no dedicated Wikipedia article for Joshua Kaplan the ProPublica journalist. His name appears in Wikipedia’s entry for the 2024 Pulitzer Prizes and in related Supreme Court ethics coverage, but he does not have a standalone Wikipedia biography. People searching “Joshua Kaplan Wikipedia” are typically looking for a biographical profile, which this article provides using verified primary sources.

What did Joshua Kaplan investigate at the Supreme Court?

Kaplan, with colleagues Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski, investigated an undisclosed decades-long pattern of luxury gifts flowing from billionaire Harlan Crow to Justice Clarence Thomas — including private jet travel, superyacht vacations, resort stays, and a real estate transaction involving Thomas’s mother’s home. A companion investigation revealed Justice Samuel Alito accepted luxury fishing trips from billionaire Paul Singer. The reporting led directly to the Supreme Court adopting its first-ever formal ethics code in late 2023.

What Pulitzer Prize did Joshua Kaplan win?

Kaplan was part of the ProPublica team that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service — the most prestigious category in the Pulitzer system. The prize was awarded for the series titled “Friends of the Court.” Kaplan is one of five journalists named individually in the Pulitzer Board’s citation: Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, Brett Murphy, Alex Mierjeski, and Kirsten Berg.

Where did Joshua Kaplan go to college?

Kaplan graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in mathematics. He is one of relatively few senior investigative journalists at a major outlet who comes from a hard sciences background rather than a traditional journalism or political science track. This detail is confirmed in his official ProPublica biography and the Pulitzer Prize Board’s citation.

What has Joshua Kaplan been working on in 2025 and 2026?

In late 2025 and into 2026, Kaplan shifted focus to DHS contracting under Secretary Kristi Noem. His reporting revealed that a consulting firm with deep personal ties to Noem had secretly received money from a $220 million taxpayer-funded DHS advertising campaign, bypassing competitive bidding rules. Follow-up stories showed Noem misled Congress about the role of her top aide in approving contracts. The reporting is widely credited as a contributing factor in Noem’s removal from the DHS Secretary position in early 2026.

What awards has Joshua Kaplan won besides the Pulitzer?

Kaplan’s full listed award record as of his ProPublica biography includes: the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (2024), two George Polk Awards, the Selden Ring Award, an Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) medal, and an Edward R. Murrow Award. These are among the highest recognitions in American print and digital journalism. All are confirmed through ProPublica’s own published listings.

What is Joshua Kaplan’s net worth?

Joshua Kaplan’s net worth is not publicly available. He works for ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom, and does not appear on any financial disclosure registry. No credible figure has been published by any authoritative source. Any number found on third-party celebrity finance websites is unconfirmed and should not be relied upon.

Wrap-Up

Joshua Kaplan’s career tells a useful story about what modern accountability journalism actually looks like in practice. It isn’t glamorous — it’s cold calls to yacht crew members, months of document review, and painstaking cross-checking before a single word is published. The Supreme Court investigation took over a year of reporting before the first story ran in April 2023. The DHS contracts story grew out of months of source-building and records requests. These aren’t stories that happen by accident, and they don’t come from reporters who give up when a powerful institution stops returning calls.

What’s notable about Kaplan specifically is that he brings a mathematician’s mindset to investigative journalism — building a case the way you’d build a proof, where every link in the chain has to hold before you can claim the conclusion is true. That approach has produced work that governments and courts have actually had to respond to, which is a bar that most journalism never clears. The Supreme Court adopted an ethics code. A sitting Cabinet secretary was removed from her post. These are concrete, documented outcomes that trace a direct line back to stories with Kaplan’s byline on them.

Thomas Andrew

Thomas Andrew is the founder of Odubio.com, a digital platform sharing inspiring biographies, news, and stories about global icons and achievers.