The Washington Spectator is a left-leaning independent political periodical with a circulation of 60,000, published bimonthly by the Public Concern Foundation.

Dubose is the author of Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency and co-author, with Molly Ivins, of the books Bushwhacked: Life in George Bush's America, Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush, and Bill of Wrongs: The Executive Branch's Assault on America's Fundamental Rights.

The current publisher is Hamilton Fish V.[6] Tristram Coffin (1912–1997[7]), born in Hood River, Oregon, grew up in Indianapolis and graduated from Depauw University.

In 1947, he published a critical book on US President Harry S. Truman, entitled Missouri Compromise, after which he established a syndicated column, "Tris Coffin's Daybook," while working for ABC.

[9] In the early 1990s, the Spectator distinguished itself with reporting on the sexual assault scandals of Oregon Senator Robert Packwood, who resigned his office in 1995.