Amanda Macias

Amanda Macias
Bornc. 1988 (aged c. 36)
El Paso, Texas, United States
Alma materMissouri School of Journalism

Amanda Macias (born c. 1988) is an American journalist who reports on national security subjects for the financial news network CNBC.[1]

Early life and education

Amanda Macias was born at Fort Bliss, in El Paso, Texas. She grew up in a military family and has lived on U.S. Army installations around the world.[2]

She is a 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and Finance.[3][4][5] In 2021, she attended Columbia University as a Knight-Bagehot Fellowship Program.[6][7]

Career

In 2008, Macias worked as a general assignment news reporter and then anchor for NBC News affiliate KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri.[8] She later joined Reuters as a field producer in Brussels, Belgium where she covered EU political institutions and NATO. In 2013, she moved to New York City and joined Business Insider as a national security correspondent.[4][5] In 2016, Macias moved to Washington, D.C., where she joined the national security team at CBS Radio.[9][2]

In 2018, Macias joined financial news network CNBC as a national security reporter.[10] In addition to national security, her beat includes the defense industry, State Department and the United Nations as well as the intelligence community.[3]

Government investigation

Macias became embroiled in the government arrest of a counterterrorism analyst with whom she was romantically involved, according to prosecutors.[11][12] The government referred to her as "Journalist 1," and Erik Wemple of The Washington Post tied both names together, while comparing Macias to Ali Watkins.[13] The Wall Street Journal identified a second involved journalist as Courtney Kube, a senior reporter for NBC,[14] whom Macias involved in the leaks. NBC, like CNBC, is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal.[15][16]

The analyst pled guilty to agreeing to disclose classified information because it would support Macias' career and was sentenced to 30 months in prison but was released early.[17][18]

Personal life

She lives in the historic Capitol Hill neighborhood in Washington, D.C. and speaks three languages. In 2018, she briefly shared an apartment in Washington DC with her then boyfriend, Henry Kyle Frese;[1][4] previously, she lived in New York City.[19] In 2021, CNBC deemed Macias to be Hispanic.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b Michael Levenson (20 February 2020). "Former Pentagon Analyst Pleads Guilty to Sharing Classified Information". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Amanda Macias, a national security reporter at CNBC, who was Mr. Frese's girlfriend and shared a home with him
  2. ^ a b "NATIONAL PRESS CLUB HEADLINERS LUNCHEON WITH US ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF GENERAL MARK MILLEY" (PDF). National Press Club (United States). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Amanda Macias, national security reporter for CBS Radio, who comes from a military family
  3. ^ a b "Amanda Macias Profile - CNBC". CNBC. February 11, 2020. Archived from the original on February 11, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c "Amanda Macias - Business Insider". Business Insider. February 24, 2020. Archived from the original on February 24, 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Amanda Macias - Missouri School of Journalism". February 24, 2020. Archived from the original on February 24, 2020.
  6. ^ "She is a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in Economics and Business Journalism at Columbia University."
  7. ^ "Knight-Bagehot Fellows | Columbia Journalism School". Archived from the original on 2021-01-07.
  8. ^ "On-camera — Amanda M. Macias". July 14, 2019. Archived from the original on July 14, 2019.
  9. ^ "NATIONAL PRESS CLUB LUNCHEON WITH CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF GENERAL JOSEPH F. DUNFORD" (PDF). Retrieved 25 February 2020. Amanda Macias, national security reporter for CBS Radio
  10. ^ Aruna Viswanath; Dustin Volz; Byron Tau. "Counterterrorism Analyst Arrested for Leaking to Two Journalists". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 17 May 2020. Ms. Macias has been with CNBC's Washington bureau, where she covers the Pentagon, since 2018
  11. ^ Rachel Weiner (20 February 2020). "Counterterrorism analyst admits leaking classified information". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Frese, 31, of Alexandria, was in a romantic relationship with one journalist, according to prosecutors, and passed information on Chinese and Russian weapons systems to her and a colleague [...] Court records do not name the journalists but describe articles and tweets written by Amanda Macias of CNBC
  12. ^ Aruna Viswanatha; Dustin Volz; Byron Tau (9 October 2019). "Counterterrorism Analyst Arrested for Leaking to Two Journalists". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Frese, 30 years old, accessed a classified intelligence report about China's weapons systems last year and provided information from it to two journalists, including one with whom he was romantically involved [...] The journalists aren't named in the indictment, but they are identifiable as Amanda Macias, a reporter for CNBC, and Courtney Kube
  13. ^ Erik Wemple (10 October 2019). "Reporters at CNBC and NBC News become tangled in leak investigation". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Frese followed Macias on Twitter and Macias followed Frese on Twitter. That makes sense, especially when considering this additional fact: "Public records checks also show that FRESE and Journalist 1 had the same residential address from August 2017 through August 2018. Based on reviews of FRESE's and Journalist 1's public social media pages, it appears that they were involved in a romantic relationship for some or all of that period of time."
  14. ^ Feuerherd, Ben (October 10, 2019). "Journalists in intelligence leak case IDed as NBC and CNBC reporters".
  15. ^ Katie Benner (9 October 2019). "Pentagon Analyst Is Charged in Leaks of Classified Reports". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Ms. Macias also asked Mr. Frese to speak with another reporter, Courtney Kube, a veteran Pentagon reporter for NBC News, which like CNBC is part of NBCUniversal.
  16. ^ "U.S. counterterrorism analyst pleads guilty to media leaks". nationalpost.
  17. ^ Matthew Barakat (20 February 2020). "Ex-intelligence official pleads to leaking Top Secret info". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020. Frese admitted as part of the plea agreement that he agreed to help Kube and provide her with classified information because he believed it would help Macias progress professionally
  18. ^ Weiner, Rachel (June 18, 2020). "Former intelligence analyst sentenced to 30 months in prison for leaks". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 18, 2020. Frese "was particularly susceptible to pressure and influence" when his girlfriend, a reporter whose "career was stalling," began asking him to share information
  19. ^ AMANDA MACIAS (31 December 2016). "I lived in Times Square for a year — here's what it's like to live in the most hectic part of New York City". Aol. Business Insider. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  20. ^ "CNBC celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month: Amanda Macias". CNBC.