Kimberley Ann Strassel (born July 24, 1972) is an American conservative columnist and author who is a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board. She writes a weekly column, "Potomac Watch", which appears on Fridays.

Early life and education

Strassel grew up in Buxton, Oregon, the oldest of four girls. She graduated in 1990 from Banks High School in nearby Banks. She graduated with a B.A. from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs in 1994, after completing a senior thesis titled "The Democratization of the Russian Secret Security and Intelligence Apparatus", under the supervision of Aaron Friedberg. Strassel immediately took a position at The Wall Street Journal upon graduation.

Career

The Wall Street Journal

Strassel was a news assistant for the European edition of The Wall Street Journal in Brussels (1994–1996) and a staff writer covering technology for The Wall Street Journal Europe in London (1996–1999). She moved to New York in 1999 to cover real estate before joining the editorial page as an assistant features editor. She became a senior editorial writer and member of the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal in 2005. In 2007, she began writing the long-running "Potomac Watch" column for The Wall Street Journal. In an October 2017 editorial, Strassel criticized Fusion GPS, "the intelligence outfit that commissioned former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to compile the now infamous,and erroneous Trump–Russia dossier." In the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Strassel suggested teachers could be equipped with stun grenades to protect their students. By October 2019, President Donald Trump had tweeted about Strassel or retweeted her commentary more than 20 times, including calling for a Pulitzer Prize for her. Shortly before the November 2020 election, Strassel promoted claims about Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden in an opinion column in The Wall Street Journal. Strassel's claims were contradicted by the newspaper's own news division hours later. After Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, Strassel claimed that the election contained voting irregularities. In November 2020, Strassel made claims about the election, claiming that Wisconsin's turnout percent for the election was "not feasible".

Books

Strassel has written four books:

Other

In 2014, Strassel was awarded a $250,000 Bradley Prize from the conservative Bradley Foundation. In February 2016, Strassel was among the panelists for a Republican presidential primary debate held in South Carolina.

Personal life

Strassel married journalist Matthew Rose in Buxton, Oregon, on July 15, 2000, with whom she has three children, a son followed by two daughters. As of 2014 they were still together, but subsequently divorced. In 2017 Strassel remarried. Her current husband is from Alaska, where the couple now lives.