Investigative reporter Wayne Barrett, who exposed New York City public corruption and wrote hard-hitting biographies of Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani, died Tuesday of interstitial lung disease.

Barrett, 71, uncovered the misdeeds of politicians, developers, crooked judges and “poverty pimps” during a four-decade career at the Village Voice.

In his weekly columns, Barrett targeted zinged power brokers who worked against the interests of New York’s needy.

Barrett, with his Voice colleague Jack Newfield and former Post columnist Jack Newfield , co-write “City for Sale”, an expose about municipal corruption during the mayoralty of former Mayor Edward Koch.
During the mid to late 1980s, Barrett also reported on an up and coming real estate developer — Donald Trump.

A quarter century before Trump’s successful run for the presidency, Barrett wrote a critical biography on the mogul, “Trump: The Deals and the Downfall.” It was updated in 2016 as “Trump: The Greatest Show on Earth: The Deals, the Downfall, the Reinvention.”

He highlighted Trump’s pugnacious personality and the underbelly of his business empire, particularly the declining fortunes of the president-elect’s Atlantic City casinos.

Barrett was relentless in reporting on his subjects, even risking bodily harm.

A picture taken by a Voice photographer showed Barrett being attacked with a broom by Ramon Velez, who made a fortune running not-for-profit groups in the South Bronx. Barrett had followed Velez to Puerto Rico and sought an interview.

Perhaps Barrett’s greatest legacy was training a generation of college students to become journalists while at The Voice. He often had three or four interns assisting him on stories, conducting research and phone interviews.

One of them was William Bastone, founder and editor of the Smoking Gun. Bastone, a longtime friend, visited Barrett on Tuesday before he died.

“One of Wayne’s greatest legacies is that he literally trained scores of journalists. A lot of us entered the profession and executed what he taught us,” Bastone said.

Barrett’s wore his leftist politics on his sleeves. But he equally skewered conservatives and liberals for hypocrisy and wrongdoing.

In the 1980s, he hailed then Manhattan U.S. Attorney Rudy Guliani’s probes and convictions of municipal corruption.

But he would later slam Giuliani’s policies as mayor,, first in the biography “Rudy! “ and later in a second tome, “Grand Illusion” that questioned how Giuliani prepared for the 9/11 attacks.

Barrett would later slam Mayor de Blasio and the teachers’ union for trying to choke off charter schools as an alternative for minority parents and kids.

Barrett left the Voice in 2010 after a 37 year career.

He is survived by his wife, Frances Marie McGettigan, who works in the Cuomo administration, his son, Mac, three brothers and two sisters.

Tributes flowed Thursday night, even from politicians who felt the wrath of Barrett’s pen.

Gov. Cuomo called Barrett “a truth finder’ and “truth teller”and “the conscience of New York.”

“He had a profound impact on policy and government because of his dogged determination to hold those in power accountable. As a public official who was subjected to Wayne’s scrutiny many times, I can attest that his intellect, tenacity, and knowledge were second to none,” Cuomo said.

“At a time in the world in which substantive and respected journalism is vital, today is a painful loss. My heart goes out to Wayne’s family, including his son Mac and his beloved wife Fran who is a valuable member of my team, performing crucial work on behalf of the most vulnerable people of New York each and every day.”

Mayor Mike Bloomberg said Barrett was a “tenacious reporter in the tradition of the old muckrakers who could sniff out corruption and special interest politics a mile away. “

“No elected official always saw eye-to-eye with Wayne, including me,” Bloomberg said, but “ behind the scathing pen he wielded was a good guy with a big heart who loved New York City. His death is major loss for New York journalism, but students of our city’s history will be reading his work for decades to come.”