Defense One has hired Molly O’Toole to be its first politics reporter. Executive Editor Kevin Baron announced the news today.
Her beat sounds intriguing and like a rather tall order.
A release explains, “O’Toole will cover the rhetoric versus the reality of defense and foreign policy issues before Washington, from Congressional committees to the presidential campaign trail into 2016.”
“If you haven’t learned by now, politics comes first in this town, even before national security,” said Baron. “But there’s a clear gap in Washington between serious coverage of national security issues and serious coverage of politics we hope to bridge. Molly’s wide-ranging international experience and strong understanding of the political landscape make her an ideal fit for launching Defense One’s political coverage.”
O’Toole comes to Defense One from HuffPost, where she focused on Latin America, foreign policy, immigration and defense. She was a lead editor for the site’s coverage.
Her resumé is thick — she’s worked for Reuters, The Nation, the AP in Mexico City and Newsweek International. She earned degrees from both NYU and Cornell.