Jeffrey Toobin
Jeffrey Ross Toobin (; born May 21, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, blogger, and legal analyst for CNN. During the Iran–Contra affair, he served as an associate counsel in the Department of Justice. He moved from government into writing during the 1990s, and wrote for "The New Yorker" from 1993 to 2020 when he was fired for masturbating on-camera during a video-conference call with co-workers. Toobin has written several books, including an account of the O. J. Simpson murder case. That book was adapted as a TV series, "," which aired in 2016 as the  first season of FX's "American Crime Story". Early life. Toobin was born to a Jewish-American family in New York City in 1960, a son of Marlene Sanders, former ABC News and CBS News correspondent, and Jerome Toobin, a news broadcasting producer. His younger brother, Mark, born in 1967 with Down syndrome, lived apart from the family. He attended Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School, and then Harvard College for undergraduate studies. He covered sports for "The Harvard Crimson", where his column was titled "Inner Toobin". Toobin graduated "magna cum laude" with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American history and  literature, and was awarded a Harry S. Truman Scholarship. He then attended Harvard Law School, where he was classmates with Elena Kagan and graduated "magna cum laude" with a J.D. in 1986. While there, he was an editor of the "Harvard Law Review". Career. Toobin began freelancing for "The New Republic" while a law student. After passing the bar, he worked as a law clerk to a federal judge and then as an associate counsel for Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh during the Iran–Contra affair and Oliver North's criminal trial. He next served as an Assistant United States Attorney  for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn. Toobin wrote a book, "Opening Arguments: A Young Lawyer's First Case: United States v. Oliver North", about his work in the Office of Independent Counsel, to which Walsh objected. Toobin went to court to affirm his right to publish. Judge John F. Keenan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York wrote an opinion that Toobin and his publisher had the right to release this book. The book was published before Walsh's appeal could be decided, mooting the case. Accordingly, the Circuit Court vacated  the lower court's decision and ordered the dismissal of the case. After three years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Toobin resigned from the U.S. Attorney's office in Brooklyn, where he had gone to work after working for Walsh and abandoned "the practice of law." He started working in 1993 at "The New Yorker" and became a television legal analyst for ABC in 1996. Toobin has provided broadcast legal analysis on many high-profile cases. In 1994, Toobin broke the story in "The New Yorker" that the legal team in O. J. Simpson's criminal trial planned to accuse  Mark Fuhrman of planting evidence. Toobin provided analysis of Michael Jackson's 2005 child molestation trial, the O. J. Simpson civil case, and prosecutor Kenneth Starr's investigation of President Bill Clinton. He received a 2000 Emmy Award for his coverage of the Elián González custody saga. Toobin joined CNN in 2002; he is now the chief legal analyst. In 2003, he secured the first interview with Martha Stewart about the insider trading charges against her. Toobin is the author of seven books. His book "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court" (2007) received awards from the  Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. His next book, "", was published in 2012. "American Heiress: The Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst" came out in 2016. All were "New York Times" Best Sellers. In 2020, he authored "True Crimes and Misdemeanors, the Investigation of Donald Trump", which is described as a condensation of evidence against the character and presidency of Donald Trump as if he were on trial. In 2021, Toobin's book, "A Vast Conspiracy", was adapted into the FX true-crime anthology, "". Zoom masturbation incident. On October 19 , 2020, Toobin was suspended from "The New Yorker" after he masturbated on camera during a Zoom video call between "New Yorker" and WNYC radio staffers. CNN said Toobin "has asked for some time off while he deals with a personal issue, which we have granted." Toobin contended the incident was unintentional and said in a statement: "I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers." The next month, he was fired from "The New Yorker" following an internal investigation by the parent organization, Condé Nast. New York Public  Radio, which owns WNYC, indefinitely banned Toobin from its broadcasts and podcasts. Toobin was widely ridiculed in the wake of the incident by, among others, Jimmy Fallon, Donald Trump Jr., and "Saturday Night Live". Defenders included former "New Yorker" editor Tina Brown, who said that "27 years of superb reporting and commitment to "The New Yorker" should have been weighed against an incident that horribly embarrassed the magazine but mostly embarrassed himself." Author and journalist Malcolm Gladwell said he "read the Condé Nast news release, and I was puzzled because I couldn't find any intellectual justification for what they  were doing." On June 10, 2021, Toobin returned to CNN as its chief legal analyst. He described his conduct as "deeply moronic and indefensible" and said he "didn't think other people could see [him]", but admitted that this was no defense for his behavior. He said the time he spent off air went toward "trying to be a better person", working on his upcoming book about the Oklahoma City bombing, doing therapy, and working at a food bank. Personal life. In 1986, Toobin married Amy Bennett McIntosh, whom he met in college while they worked at "The Harvard Crimson . She is a 1980 Harvard graduate, holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School, and has held executive positions at Verizon Communications and Zagat Survey. They have two adult children, a daughter and son. Toobin had a longtime off-and-on extramarital affair with attorney Casey Greenfield. At one point, Greenfield became pregnant with Toobin's child. Toobin offered her money to have an abortion. When she refused to do so, he threatened that she would regret it if she did not comply. Greenfield is the daughter of American television journalist and author Jeff Greenfield and the ex-wife of 	Jeffrey Toobin
9725667	screenwriter Matt Manfredi. They had a child in 2009, which Toobin initially resisted acknowledging. Ultimately, Toobin's paternity was confirmed with a DNA test and a Manhattan family court judge ordered Toobin to pay child support. In popular culture. In the 2016 television series ", Toobin was portrayed by Chris Conner.