Drew Griffin, acclaimed CNN investigative journalist, dies at 60

In April 2014, after six months of sustained coverage on delayed medical appointments for veterans leading to late treatment and even deaths, CNN aired “A Fatal Wait,” in which Mr. Griffin and his team revealed how a Veterans Affairs hospital in Arizona falsified records to hide the prolonged waiting times. The coverage of the issue led to the resignation of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

In 2016, Mr. Griffin won an Emmy Award for uncovering the fraudulent moneymaking practices of Trump University. His exclusive interview with a former Trump University instructor revealed how the institute focused on luring participants to pay for more seminars rather than teaching them real estate strategies. “We were bringing in the money,” the instructor shared with Mr. Griffin.

Two years later, Mr. Griffin and his colleagues uncovered sexual assault and abuse cases against more than 100 Uber drivers, leading the company to bring in new safety features and revamp its background-check protocols.

Mr. Griffin’s recent work focused on the challenges to American democracy in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection led by Trump followers; his coverage was cited in court filings by the Justice Department and the House committee investigating the riots.

Mr. Griffin’s reporting took him around the world. In Somalia, he covered a devastating famine, in Singapore he reported on illegal drift net fishermen and in El Salvador he narrated stories of gang members. While reporting on Hurricane Harvey in Texas in 2017, he rescued a man from a sinking truck.

In 2008, then vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin gave CNN her first interview, with Mr. Griffin pushing Palin on a report that found she had made an ethics violation in her handling of the firing of her estranged brother-in-law, an incident that became known as “Troopergate.”

Andrew Charles Griffin was born Oct. 21, 1962. His father, a civil engineer, served in the Army and retired from the Cook County (Ill.) Highway Department. His mother, a lawyer, served as a lead lawyer in the Illinois state appellate research division.

Mr. Griffin spent 10 years working at CBS News 2 in Los Angeles before he joined CNN. A communications graduate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he began his career as a reporter and cameraman for WICD-TV in Illinois and later in Florida, Washington and South and North Carolina.

Survivors include his wife, Margot; three children, Ele, Louis and Miles; and two grandchildren.

When he was awarded the Everett McKinley Dirksen Award for Distinguished Reporting of Congress in 2015, Mr. Griffin joked that it was rare to be welcomed in Washington — a nod to the tough questions he was known for asking lawmakers. A compilation video prepared by CNN showed subjects slamming doors in his face, or walking — or even running — away to avoid him. He kept asking anyway.