Carrie Johnson Carrie Johnson is NPR's National Justice Correspondent.
Carrie Johnson 2016 square
Stories By

Carrie Johnson

Linda Fittante/NPR
Carrie Johnson 2016
Linda Fittante/NPR

Carrie Johnson

Justice Correspondent

Carrie Johnson is NPR's National Justice Correspondent.

She covers a wide variety of stories about justice issues, law enforcement, and legal affairs for NPR's flagship programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Johnson regularly appears on the NPR Politics Podcast.

Prior to coming to NPR in 2010, Johnson worked at the Washington Post for 10 years. Earlier in her career, she wrote about courts for the weekly publication Legal Times.

Her work has been honored with awards from the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, the Society for Professional Journalists, and SABEW. She served as a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University from 2019-2020. In 2021, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers honored Johnson with a rarely-bestowed Champion of Justice award for her journalism work.

She has been a finalist for the Loeb Award for financial journalism and for the Pulitzer Prize in breaking news for team coverage of the massacre at Fort Hood, Texas.

Johnson is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Benedictine University in Illinois. She sits on the advisory board for the Center for Journalism Ethics at UW-M and the Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit.

Story Archive

Thursday

President Trump speaks at the Justice Department on March 14. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The Costs of Defense

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/g-s1-93593/nx-s1-9491459" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Friday

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a news conference outside Manhattan federal court, Feb. 14, 2025, in New York. Yuki Iwamura/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Yuki Iwamura/AP

Thursday

Letitia James, who prosecuted Trump in N.Y., is indicted on one count of bank fraud

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5569820/nx-s1-9486407" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference on Jan. 8 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Letitia James, who prosecuted Trump in N.Y., is indicted on one count of bank fraud

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5569792/nx-s1-9486407" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Former FBI director Comey pleads not guilty to lying to Congress

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5566718/nx-s1-9484718" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

James Comey, former FBI director, speaks at a book event in New York City in May 2025. He was arraigned on federal charges on Wednesday. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Former FBI Director Jim Comey to be arraigned on criminal charges

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5565089/nx-s1-9483294" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Sunday

Supreme Court's decision on the presidential power casts a shadow on its new term

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5559324/nx-s1-9479679" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Monday

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Oval Office of the White House, on Sept. 25, 2025, in Washington. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Evan Vucci/AP

Friday

The Department of Justice building is seen on July 20 in Washington, D.C. Eric Lee/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Eric Lee/Getty Images

What upheaval at DOJ may mean for rule of law in America

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5551267/nx-s1-9469192" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Former FBI Director James Comey speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Dec. 17, 2018. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption

toggle caption
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Former FBI Director James Comey indicted on criminal charges

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5553687/nx-s1-9468267" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey leaves the Rayburn House Office Building after testifying to two House committees on Dec. 7, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

FBI Director James Comey indicted on criminal charges stemming from 2020 testimony

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5552690/nx-s1-9467924" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Special prosecutor Jack Smith addresses reporters after his grand jury issued more indictments of Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 1, 2023. Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Monday

President Trump talks to the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Sunday in Washington, D.C. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Unease at the Justice Department grows as Trump's threats get even more blunt

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5550132/nx-s1-9462752" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

Cathy Harris was a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, an independent, quasi-judicial agency that works to ensure federal employees are protected against abuses by agency management, until she was fired earlier this year by the Trump administration. Maansi Srivastava/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Maansi Srivastava/NPR

Beyond ‘draining the swamp’: How Trump is knocking down checks on presidential power

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5475191/nx-s1-9456400" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

Utah County Attorney Jeff Gray speaks during a press conference announcing charges filed against Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Provo, Utah. Alex Goodlett/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Alex Goodlett/AP

Law Enforcement Charge Alleged Shooter In Charlie Kirk Killing

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5543135/nx-s1-mx-5720009" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

Prosecutors Isia Jasiewicz, Jennifer Blackwell, Sara Levine and Carolyn Jackson left the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington this year. Now they're working together again in the office of the Commonwealth's Attorney for Arlington County, Va. hide caption

toggle caption

These fired DOJ lawyers are finding new ways to make a difference

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5534402/nx-s1-9449057" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Fired FBI agents sue bureau, accusing agency leaders of a campaign of retribution

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5537001/nx-s1-9447557" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Wednesday

FBI Director Kash Patel delivers remarks as President Trump looks on during a White House press conference in August 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Fired FBI agents allege retribution, incompetence at top security agency

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/g-s1-87947/nx-s1-9446897" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Friday

DC Grand Juries

Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5526925/nx-s1-9441089" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Tuesday

President Trump visits the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility on August 21 in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration has deployed federal officers and the National Guard to the district to place the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and assist in crime prevention in the nation's capital. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images