"A book about how powerful politicians, criminals and others get away with lawbreaking"--

A captivating study of US state secrecy that examines how officials use it to hoard power and prevent meaningful public oversight The United States was founded on the promise of a transparent government, but time and again we have abandoned the ideals ofour open republic. In recent history, we have permitted ourselves to engage in costly wars, opened ourselves to preventable attacks, and ceded unaccountable power to officials both elected and unelected....

"Former White House counsel John Dean has become one of the most trenchant and respected commentators on the current state of American politics. Here he takes the broadest and deepest view yet of the dysfunctional chaos and institutional damage that the Republican Party and its core conservatives have inflicted on the federal government. He assesses the state of all three branches of government, tracing their decline through the presidencies of Nixon,...

"Since the start of Donald Trump's presidential run, one question has quietly but urgently permeated the observations of concerned citizens: What is wrong with him? Constrained by the American Psychiatric Association's "Goldwater rule," which inhibits mental health professionals from diagnosing public figures they have not personally examined, many of those qualified to answer this question have shied away from discussing the issue at all. The public...