Ari Melber

Ari Naftali Melber (born March 31, 1980) is an American attorney and Emmy-winning journalist who is the chief legal correspondent for MSNBC and host of The Beat with Ari Melber.

In 2023, The A.P. reported "The Beat" is "often the most-watched show on MSNBC," as the Emmy-winning NBC News legal analyst...

brings a methodical, 'follow the facts' style to the issues he addresses.

"The Beat" had the highest ratings of any show on MSNBC or CNN, "outranking everything else on MSNBC — the first time in the network’s 27 years that a show outside the prime-time window took top honors," the New York Times reported in 2023.

The Beat was "the highest-rated non-Fox News show in the [ratings] demo" on cable news, AdWeek reported in November 2023.

Forbes reported The Beat was the highest rated show across all of MSNBC and CNN in January 2024.

Forbes also reported the show has "MSNBC's best rating ever for the time slot."

"The Beat" is one of "the most-watched news programs on cable,"Variety noted in 2023, along with Fox's "The Five."

AdWeek reported The Beat's ratings made it one of "most watched cable news" shows in 2022.

"The Beat's" ratings were up 46%" in 2021, performing better against Fox News "than any other show before it"

In January 2021, The Beat was No. 1 at 6 p.m. in ratings, averaging 2.6 million viewers per night, more than double CNN.

He then attended the University of Michigan, where he graduated with an AB degree in political science in 2002.

After college, he moved to Washington, D.C. and worked for Senator Maria Cantwell.

He then joined Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign, working the Iowa caucus and as California deputy political director.

When Kerry lost, Melber attended Cornell Law School where he was an editor of the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy and graduated with a J.D. in 2009.

He interned at New York County Defender Services, a public defender's office.

Melber worked for First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams at Cahill Gordon & Reindel from 2009 to 2013.

He also began writing for news outlets like The Nation, The Atlantic, Reuters, and Politico.

MSNBC asked him to serve as a guest host.

In April 2013, Melber was named a co-host of "The Cycle" with S.E. Cupp, Krystal Ball, Touré, and Steve Kornacki.

In April 2015, Melber was named their chief legal correspondent.

"The Cycle" was canceled in July 2015, and Melber continued working for the network as Chief Legal Correspondent.

Melber was a substitute host for The Rachel Maddow Show and other programs.

Melber is a legal analyst for NBC News as well as MSNBC's chief legal correspondent, covering the Department of Justice, FBI and the Supreme Court.

He has won an Emmy Award for his Supreme Court coverage.

In 2017, Melber hosted "The Point" on Sundays on MSNBC.

"The Beat" premiered on July 24, 2017, and became the "longest-running" show at "MSNBC's 6 p.m. hour in network history" in 2021.

Melber reported that the firing of FBI Director James Comey could trigger an investigation into obstruction of justice on May 9, 2017 — the day Comey was fired — quoting a former FBI official who told him the firing raised potential obstruction.

A probe was announced on May 18, 2017, which included an obstruction investigation.

Melber reported President Trump's actions toward Ukraine provided a potential case of impeachment for "bribery" in October.

The next month, top Democrats began making the bribery case for the first time, showing "Democrats agreed with the MSNBC host" (Mediaite), while a Republican cited a bribery segment from The Beat at an impeachment hearing.

A few months into the Mueller probe, on August 29, 2017, Melber broke the story that a state investigator was exploring jurisdiction to charge potential defendants in the Mueller probe with state crimes, meaning a conviction would not be eligible for a federal pardon.

Politico followed up on Melber's scoop the next day, and New York State prosecutors ultimately filed separate charges against Paul Manafort in 2019.

Melber interviewed former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in February 2019 about whether Trump asked him to interfere in the Mueller probe, and Melber later reported that Lewandowski's response was false.

In a 2019 congressional hearing, Lewandowski was questioned about that false answer.

Melber broke the story of police repeatedly tasing a Virginia man until he died in police custody, an investigative report that led to an FBI investigation of the officers' conduct.

The Beat was nominated for a 2020 Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Interview.

Melber is Jewish, the son of an Israeli immigrant.

His grandparents were Holocaust survivors.

Melber attended Garfield High School, in Seattle, Washington.