Hatchet Man

How Bill Barr Broke the Prosecutor’s Code and Corrupted the Justice Department

By: Elie Honig

Narrated by: Elie Honig

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

“Elie Honig has written much more than a compelling takedown of an unfit attorney general; he also offers a blueprint for how impartial and apolitical justice should be administered in America.”—Preet Bharara

“An essential analysis for anyone committed to understanding the abuses of the Trump administration so we can ensure they never happen again.”—Joyce White Vance

“Essential reading for all who cherish the rule of law in America.”—George Conway

""Written with all the color and pacing of a legal thriller.""—Variety

CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig exposes William Barr as the most corrupt attorney general in modern U.S. history, with stunning new scandals bubbling to the surface even after Barr's departure from office.

In Hatchet Man, former federal prosecutor Elie Honig uncovers Barr’s unprecedented abuse of power as Attorney General and the lasting structural damage done to the Justice Department. Honig uses his own experience as a prosecutor at DOJ to show how, as America’s top law enforcement official, Barr repeatedly violated the Department’s written rules, and those vital, unwritten norms and principles that comprise the “prosecutor’s code.”

Barr was corrupt from the beginning. His first act as AG was to distort the findings of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, earning a public rebuke for his dishonesty from Mueller himself and, later, from a federal judge. Then, Barr tried to manipulate the law to squash a whistleblower’s complaint about Trump’s dealings with Ukraine—the report that eventually led to Trump’s first impeachment. Barr later intervened in an unprecedented manner to undermine his own DOJ prosecutors on the cases of Michael Flynn and Roger Stone, both political allies of the President. And then Barr fired the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York under false pretenses. Finally, Barr amplified baseless theories about massive mail-in ballot fraud, pouring gasoline on the dumpster fire battle over the 2020 election results and contributing to the January 6 insurrection that led to Trump’s second impeachment.

In Hatchet Man, Honig proves that Barr trampled the two core virtues that have long defined the department and its mission: credibility and independence – ultimately in service of his own deeply-rooted, extremist legal and personal beliefs. Honig shows how Barr corrupted the Justice Department and explains what we must do to prevent this from ever happening again.

Well written indictment of Barr

This is a well written, easily understood indictment of Barr as an unscrupulous, political hack and his corruption of the DOJ. I am not an attorney so I especially appreciate that Honig explains Barr's complete corruption and absolute lack of character without dry legalese. I felt like a member of a jury in a crime family case, listening to cogent closing arguments by a seasoned prosecutor. I highly recommend this book.

Fantastic!

This book is an eye opener. I just could not stop listening to it. Elie Honig is masterful in his performance and writing.

informative

Elie goes into great detail about the corruption of our doj underbill Barr. a reminder that elections have consequences. also showed how we need to put more guardrails in place in the future.

A lesson in prosecution

I felt this book gave a an easy to follow explanation of how DOJ was changed by Bill Barr. Examples were given to explain some of the ridiculous things Bill Barr did in easy for a layman to understand. The author should be a college professor

Barr was worse than I expected 😪

This book made me more angry than ever at Barr and Trump. I knew there were bad things happening under Barr but to hear it all together and fully explained had me fuming. Mr. Honig does an excellent job explaining the DOJ and the norms & rules that Barr shattered to help Trump further his "agenda." In an ideal world men like Trump and Barr would not reach positions of power. We do not live in a perfect world. It will take generations to return to true American ideals. Loved the book. ❤