Veteran NBC News Correspondent Pete Williams Is Retiring: 'A Legend'
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William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC Newswire/NBCUniversal via Getty Pete Williams
Longtime NBC News correspondent Pete Williams — who has spent nearly three decades covering the Supreme Court and the US Justice Department — says he will retire from the network in July.
According to the Today show, NBC News president Noah Oppenheim announced the news via an email to employees, calling Williams "quite simply one of the most respected, trusted, and steadfast names in news."
Oppenheim added: "Pete's decency, kindness, and generosity are unmatched. For those that know Pete well, it's his warmth, humor, wit, and compassion that will be missed most."
Williams, 70, has covered a number of notable events in American history, from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to the landmark Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in 2015.
Today notes that, on a conference call with colleagues Thursday, Williams noted that his retirement echoed that of someone he has covered for years: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced his own retirement in January.
"Stephen Breyer is leaving, so I think this is a good time for me to go, too," Williams said on the call, per Today.
He added: "We've got 35 Supreme Court decisions to go through, so there's still a lot of work to be done and probably some surprises from the Justice Department."
RELATED: Savannah Guthrie Comforts Pete Williams as Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Casket Arrives at U.S. Capitol
Williams made headlines in 2020, when he grew emotional as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's casket arrived at the U.S. Capitol for her memorial.
"It really brings together the three loves of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's life: her family, the law and opera," Williams said at the time while crying, adding that it's been a "tough day here."
A Wyoming native, Williams began his career in local news and radio before moving to Capitol Hill, where he worked as press secretary and legislative assistant for then Rep. Dick Cheney, who would later go on to serve as vice president. Williams later followed Cheney to the Defense Department, where he served as assistant secretary of defense for public affairs.
He came to NBC News in 1993 and will remain on staff until July, allowing him to cover likely a number of big stories out of the Supreme Court and Justice Department.
Following the announcement that he would be retiring, former colleagues and friends of the journalist began to roll in.
MSNBC journalist Andrea Mitchell called him "incomparable," adding he is "simply superb, as a human being, as a journalist, as a friend and as a colleague."
"It's no accident that people here live by the motto: in Pete we trust," Mitchell said. "He always gets it right."
Former DOJ spokesman Matthew Miller wrote about his experience working with Williams, who he called "the GOAT."
"During terrorist attacks and other breaking news situations, when every reporter is ringing you up to ask for info, Pete's calls would usually be to TELL us what was happening, and what he was about to report," Miller wrote of Williams. "Can recall many times when the senior most levels of government found out what was actually happening not from internal reporting but by watching Pete. Pulling that off once or twice is normal. Doing it every time means you are a legend."
