Assistant managing editor Jeff Leen knows it was a good decision to pair Scott Higham with Robert O’Harrow, Jr. for their reporting on Department of Homeland Security spending. With over 40 years of reporting experience between them, Higham and O’Harrow are undeniably strong investigative reporters, and, simply put, says Leen, “two good reporters are better than one.” Higham, a cop’s son (a path he almost pursued himself), is comfortable talking to people on the street, cultivating sources. O’Harrow is good with technology, whether sifting through databases or digging up web pages that have been taken down by people because they don’t want anybody to see what used to be up. His reporting partner kids, “he’d be a great CIA agent or NSA spook.” “As they’ve worked together, each has become more like the other,” says Leen, “there’s been kind of almost a perfect blending of skills.”

>>For more from the reporters on working together as a team, check out EXPOSÉ’s web-exclusive interview with the pair.