[12] Lake began as a national security reporter at the New York Sun[13] and a State Department correspondent for United Press International (UPI).

[17] Lake, along with his colleague, Josh Rogin, left The Daily Beast in October 2014 and joined Bloomberg View, at which his final column was about American foreign policy with Iran.

[21][22][23] In 2011, Silverstein wrote an article for Salon claiming that Lake's reporting on Georgia was biased because pro-Georgian lobbyists had paid for his meals and drinks in the past.

][24] In August 2013, along with Josh Rogin, Lake reported on a Central Intelligence Agency intercept that claimed that Al Qaeda had a meeting of senior leaders in the form of a conference call.

Speculation about the differences in the initial reports ranged from glorification of the National Security Agency's abilities to protection of sources within the U.S. intelligence community.