Robert Costa, chief election & campaign correspondent for CBS News, is an acclaimed political reporter and political analyst, and co-author of Peril with Bob Woodward. Peril documents the national-security emergency and insurrection during President Trump’s final days in office and provides unmatched insights into the dynamics shaping the coming elections in 2022 and 2024. Peril is also the first inside look at President Biden’s first year in office.

For more than a decade, Costa has been at the forefront of American politics and journalism. He was a national political reporter for The Washington Post from 2014 until 2021, and was a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC from 2015-2020, where he long served as a contributor. Costa is well known for his unusually expansive coverage, with deep sourcing inside the White House, on Capitol Hill, and inside the nation’s national-security community, as well as inside the new grassroots movements on the right and left that have upended both major parties in recent years.

Costa’s work with Woodward on Peril was a partnership forged by a shared, vigorous approach to reporting and the pursuit of the truth and can be traced back to their joint coverage of Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, where they interviewed the future president together and pressed him on how he might govern, if elected.

Costa’s book with Woodward, his first, is a classic study of Washington. It is full of vivid, eyewitness accounts of what really happened, and is supplemented throughout with never-before-seen material from secret orders, transcripts of confidential calls, diaries, emails, meeting notes and other personal and government records, making for an unparalleled presidential history.

Before writing the book, Costa was the moderator and managing editor of Washington Week on PBS from April 2017 through January 2021. The program, one of the longest-running broadcasts on television, has been celebrated for its nonpartisan and smart discussions about the latest reporting and headlines shaping policymakers in Washington. During his tenure, the Associated Press called the show “satisfyingly wonkish and, amid a TV sea of partisan megaphones and questions about journalism’s role, especially important.”

In addition to his media appearances and writing, Costa is a frequent public speaker at events across the country, from colleges and universities, to distinguished lecture series, commencement addresses, town halls, and more. His lively and engaging talks give audiences an intelligent, no-spin look at political life in Washington and beyond.

Costa holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, where he is a former trustee, and a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge. He is from Bucks County, Pennsylvania.