ELI LAKE

Washington, D.C.

Eli Lake is a contributor to the Sun.

Mr. Lake is a columnist of the Free Press and the host of the Breaking History podcast. He was a syndicated columnist of Bloomberg between 2014 and 2022 and a former reporter of The New York Sun, the Daily Beast, and the Washington Times.

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Latest Articles

Michael Ledeen, early in his career. — Courtesy the Ledeen family.

Scholar and Journalist Michael Ledeen Dies at 83 After a Long Career Struggling for American Ideals at Home and Abroad

A Darth Vader mask hung in his office as a testimony to the wit with which he leaned into the controversies around him.

By ELI LAKE

|May 19, 2025|

Opinion (Columnists)

Special Counsel John Durham, outside federal court at Washington on May 16, 2022. — AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta

Devastating Report by Durham Finds FBI Lacked a Proper Basis for Opening Investigation of Trump

Special counsel contends FBI, other intelligence agencies lacked evidence of the President having colluded with Russia.

By ELI LAKE

|May 16, 2023|

Opinion (Columnists)

A view of the Kremlin at Moscow, May 3, 2023. — AP

Russia Plays the Victim on Kremlin Drone Attack

The claim that Ukraine attempted an assassination of President Putin is particularly laughable. To start, the two drones that were shot down over the Kremlin did not resemble the military drones in Ukraine’s arsenal.

By ELI LAKE

|May 4, 2023|

Foreign

The former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, gestures during his trial at Baghdad, January 29, 2006. — AP/Darko Bandic, file

Twenty Years Later, America’s Invasion of Iraq Is Deeply Misunderstood

We didn’t destroy Iraq. We put it on the road to competitive elections and a ratified constitution.

By ELI LAKE

|Mar 17, 2023|

Opinion (Columnists)

Representative Mike Johnson talks to witness Matt Taibbi, left, at Capitol Hill on March 9, 2023. — AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta

At Twitter Files Hearing, Democrats Attack Journalists

The behavior of Democrats on the committee Thursday is part of a gradual evolution for a political party that historically defended the principle of free speech and the First Amendment.

By ELI LAKE

|Mar 11, 2023|

Opinion (Columnists)

President Xi at the Great Hall of the People at Beijing, September 30, 2022. — AP/Ng Han Guan

Can Biden Deter China From Entering the War for Ukraine?

Not by using the Chips Act to force suppliers to provide child care to their employees.

By ELI LAKE

|Mar 6, 2023|

Opinion (Columnists)

Russian ICBM missile launchers at Moscow's Red Square in 2016. — AP/Alexander Zemlianichenko, file

Putin, in a Strategic Blunder, Gives America a Chance To Catch Up in the Arms Race

Why should America care if Russia announces it is suspending compliance with a treaty it is already violating?

By ELI LAKE

|Feb 24, 2023|

Opinion (Columnists)

Ahmad Chalabi during an interview with the AP at Baghdad, May 5, 2010. — AP/Karim Kadim, file

Ghost of Ahmad Chalabi Roils Iraqi Politics

He set up the dollar auctions that allow Iraq to purchase foreign imports, but today the program is mired in corruption.

By ELI LAKE

|Feb 16, 2023|

Opinion (Columnists)

The former special agent in charge of the FBI's counterintelligence division in New York, Charles McGonigal, leaves court January 23, 2023, at New York. — AP/John Minchillo

The FBI Misjudged the Villain of Russiagate for Years

The arrest and indictment of a former senior FBI counterintelligence agent has reopened an embarrassing subject for the FBI and the Department of Justice.

By ELI LAKE

|Jan 26, 2023|

Opinion (Columnists)

President Biden speaking about deficit reduction at the White House, October 21, 2022. — AP/J. Scott Applewhite

Republicans Have Bigger Carp To Fry than Biden’s Stash of Documents

The Republican majority in the House would be wise to resist the temptation to make political hay out of the president’s retention of classified records from his time as Vice President.

By ELI LAKE

|Jan 18, 2023|

Opinion (Columnists)

Speaker McCarthy walks from the House floor on Capitol Hill, January 10, 2023. — AP/Alex Brandon

Hawks Fear Kevin McCarthy’s Deal Will Cut Defense Spending

Factoring for inflation, it spells a 13 percent cut to the Pentagon’s budget, the Ronald Reagan Institute Washington director says.

By ELI LAKE

|Jan 11, 2023|

Opinion (Columnists)

The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, holds an American flag as he leaves after addressing a joint meeting of Congress December 21, 2022. — AP/Jacquelyn Martin

Fate of Georgia’s Former President Is Cautionary Tale for Zelensky

Fifteen years ago, Mikheil Saakashvili was feted in Western democracies much the way the Ukrainian leader is today. Now, he is ill and in prison on dubious charges.

By ELI LAKE

|Dec 22, 2022|

Opinion (Columnists)