Amie Parnes

Amie Parnes (born April 15, 1978) is an American political journalist. She has been a senior correspondent for The Hill since 2024, having previously worked there from 2011 to 2023. She was the chief White House correspondent for The Messenger from the site's launch in May 2023 to its closure in January 2024. Parnes has also reported for CNN and Politico. Parnes' partnership with fellow political correspondent Jonathan Allen resulted in two best-selling books on Hillary Clinton.

Life and career Amie Parnes was born on April 15, 1978. and has a sister. Parnes is a single parent, having given birth to a son in 2015. After this internship, Parnes reported under The Philadelphia Inquirer and E.W. Scripps Company's news service.

Parnes began reporting for Politico in December 2007 as a staff writer.

The Hill and other news outlets In November 2011, Parnes left Politico, signing onto The Hill as a White House reporter. During her time at The Hill, Parnes occasionally served as a non-partisan analyst for outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, and ABC News. In 2012, Parnes partnered with journalist Jonathan Allen of Politico to write a book on then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that focused on her tenure and political future. The pair spoke to more than 200 sources and gained deep access into Clinton's inner circle. These sources included advisers, aides of Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, and Clinton herself.

HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton was published on February 11, 2014. Though the book was a New York Times Best Seller, it was negatively received by critics, who felt the authors had portrayed Clinton too sympathetically. Jodi Kantor of The New York Times accused Clinton's senior adviser Philippe Reines of meddling, commenting that "You can almost hear Philippe Reines, Clinton's crafty public relations aide, parceling out anecdotes." Individuals on the list were rated from a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 being reserved for those perceived to be the most ungrateful for Clinton's past support. Democratic congresspeople rated a 7 included Claire McCaskill, John Kerry, and Jason Altmire. The book received positive reviews from critics such as Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times and David Shribman of The Globe and Mail. Clinton campaign staff have denied Allen and Parnes' assertions that the Clinton campaign was marred by internal tensions and disputes, and provided photos of happy moments during the campaign. Christa Reynolds, the Clinton campaign's deputy communications director, refuted the book's claims in a blog post.

Lucky, Clinton and Fight Parnes and Allen regrouped to draft a book on Joe Biden. Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency was published on March 2, 2021. The two authors describe conflicting ideas among Biden's campaign staff about political strategy, rhetoric, and policy. The book covers the campaign's relationships with Biden's former colleagues such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the campaign's response to matters such as the COVID-19 pandemic and racial unrest, and how Biden won based on an unlikely set of circumstances. The book received mixed reviews from critics, who commended the book for being a valuable historical resource but concluded that it ultimately provided no new insights or ideas. Carlos Lozada of The Washington Post wrote that the book "provides useful detail to understand Biden's victory, even if the framing is not particularly novel."

Parnes and Allen authored a book about the 2024 presidential election, Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House. It details Joe Biden's 2024 reelection campaign, withdrawal from the election, and replacement with Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. It was published on April 1, 2025 and debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list for its combined print and digital book editions.

The Messenger and return to The Hill After The Hill was sold to Nexstar Media Group in 2021, former owner of The Hill Jimmy Finkelstein founded The Messenger, a news website. According to Parnes, Finkelstein contacted her personally to join as the website's chief White House correspondent in April 2023. After repeated requests and promises of a raise and four months of severance pay, Parnes left The Hill and began reporting for The Messenger once the site launched in May 2023. Amid reporting of the site's financial difficulties and layoffs, Parnes alleges that Finkelstein assured her and other staff that the site remained successful, floating the possibility of a TV news channel. The lawsuit was at least the fourth filed in relation to Finkelsein's failure to provide severance pay.

Joe Biden photo controversy In 2013, a photo taken of then Vice President Joe Biden embracing Parnes during a holiday party at Number One Observatory Circle went viral. Conservative outlets such as The Daily Caller accused Biden of groping Parnes. Anchors Matt Lauer, Natalie Morales, Savannah Guthrie, and Tamron Hall of Today all defended Biden on air, arguing that the photo showed nothing inappropriate.

Works

HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton (2014) Crown Publishing Group; written with Jonathan Allen Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign (2017) Crown Publishing Group; written with Jonathan Allen Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency (2021) Crown Publishing Group; written with Jonathan Allen Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House (2025) William Morrow and Company written with Jonathan Allen