The Wolves of K Street

The Secret History of How Big Money Took Over Big Government

De: Brody Mullins, Luke Mullins

Narrado por: Jacques Roy

A dazzling and infuriating portrait of fifty years of corporate influence in Washington, The Wolves of K Street is a “not-so-guilty pleasure” (The New York Times): irresistibly dramatic, spectacularly timely, explosive in its revelations, and impossible to put down.

In the 1970s, Washington’s center of power began to shift away from elected officials in big marble buildings to a handful of savvy, handsomely paid operators who didn’t answer to any fixed constituency. The cigar-chomping son of an influential congressman, an illustrious political fixer with a weakness for modern art, a Watergate-era dirty trickster, the city’s favorite cocktail party host—these were the sort of men who now ran Washington.

Over four decades, they’d chart new ways to turn their clients’ cash into political leverage, abandoning favor-trading in smoke-filled rooms for increasingly sophisticated tactics, such as “shadow lobbying,” where underground campaigns sparked seemingly organic public outcries to pressure lawmakers into taking actions that would ultimately benefit corporate interests rather than ordinary citizens. With billions of dollars at play, these lobbying dynasties enshrined in Washington a pro-business consensus that would guide the country’s political leaders—Democrats and Republicans alike. A good lobbyist could ghostwrite a bill or even secretly kill a piece of legislation supported by the president, both houses of Congress, and a majority of Americans.

Yet nothing lasts forever. Amid a populist backlash to the soaring inequality these influence peddlers helped usher in, DC’s pro-business alliance suddenly began to fray. And while the lobbying establishment would continue to invent new ways to influence Washington, the men who’d built K Street would soon find themselves under legal scrutiny, on the verge of financial collapse or worse. One would turn up dead behind the eighteenth green of an exclusive golf club, with a $1,500 bottle of wine at his feed and bullet in his head.

An “absorbing” (The Atlantic), “engrossing” and “meticulously researched” tale (The Guardian)—brought to life with “novelistic detail” and “considerable narrative skill” (The New York Times)—The Wolves of K Street is essential reading for anyone looking to understand how corporate interests are undermining American democracy.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“An instant classic—deeply reported, powerfully told and profoundly important. It’s one of the best books I've read on Washington in many years.”
—Peter Baker, New York Times bestselling author of The Man Who Ran Washington

“A not-so-guilty pleasure…. The Mullins brothers cleverly set up their story as a mystery… with considerable narrative skill and novelistic detail.”
—James B. Stewart, The New York Times

“A vivid, brilliantly told tale that unfolds like a novel, this is the most potent portrait of the Washington swamp you will read.”
—Ken Auletta, New York Times bestselling author of Googled

“If you want to understand how American democracy went off the rails, all you need to do is read this book.”
—Christopher Leonard, New York Times bestselling author of The Lords of Easy Money

“Absorbing.... This is the deep state.”
—Franklin Foer, The Atlantic

“Engrossing…. Smoothly written, meticulously researched, The Wolves of K Street informs and mesmerizes.”
—The Guardian

“A fast-paced deep dive into a world of greed and ambition, inhabited by a uniquely fascinating group of wheelers and dealers. The Wolves of K Street is a history of not only how money and power have influenced American politics, but how the work of lobbyists touches the lives of every American.”
—Kate Andersen Brower, New York Times bestselling author of The Residence

“One of the most amazing developments in modern American politics is how Donald Trump’s Republican Party seems to have supplanted FDR’s Democratic Party as the political home of the ‘working man.’ … Anyone who wants to understand this transformation should read Brody and Luke Mullins’s new book.”
—The Washington Free Beacon

“However nefarious you think the lobbying industry is in Washington, Brody and Luke Mullins have news: It’s worse. Not even during the Roaring Twenties and the Gilded Age did corporate American wield so much influence. In their deeply reported, compelling new book, the Mullins brothers track how that happened, and the disastrous consequences.”
—Susan Page, New York Times bestselling author of The Matriarch

“This is nothing less than the definitive history of how corporate lobbyists took over Washington. The Mullins brothers have brought us the story of how Washington really works—and for whom.”
—Jonathan Martin, New York Times bestselling coauthor of This Will Not Pass

Money Power and Greed

A great read. Informative and well written . Washington functions through lobbyists and that will never change,

My Extreme Cynicism Was Insufficient

This is a superb accounting of the loathsome story of what makes Washington work. Could have used an editor but so be it.

The interconnectedness of corruption in & around DC.

A must read! This book details the frightening level of influence on policy by a select & surprisingly few individuals. It details how these individuals not only shaped policy but have even influenced, to a large degree, how many/most Americans see our country. And the authors bring receipts. At 60 years old, I had considered myself politically astute. After listening to this book, I realize I’ve been naive & blind to how our country works. And, let me qualify that by saying, in the past, I have worked on the fringes of corporate advocacy so I, more than the average person, have “been in the room” (albeit, VERY low level). This is one of those books that opens your eyes & changes how you see the world. But, like Socrates’ “Allegory of the Cave”, be careful what you wish for. It’s often painful to stare directly into the light.

fantastic review of lobbying

lobbyists have usurped this country and this book well details it in an engaging way

Shocking but not surprising

This is an excellent book that lays out the lobbying profession in a clear line. The authors do a great job of explaining the timeline without being distracted by other news and sh*t that flooded the news at the time.

True Story

The level of research seems very good to tell a story most people saw but never realized.

The importance of investigative journalism- needed now more than ever

Attention to detail, fact based reporting of the terrifying underbelly and unethical behaviors of influence in Washington and beyond

The coverage without bias

Very eye opening to how government corruption is propped up. The stroy of how lobbyists aka influence peddling is done in DC.

Very well researched

Fantastic investigative journalism, tells the full picture of lobbying in the US and the impact it has on the country and globe.

the sad end to many that lived only for moneyi like

I like how they put the story together of real persons and weaved them into a moral tale