Carol Leonnig and Aaron Davis: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department

In 1861, abolitionist Wendell Phillips said, “I think the first duty of society is justice.” What, then, would he think about the current state of America’s Department of Justice? 

Pulitzer-Prize-winning reporters Carol Leonnig and Aaron C. Davis say that throughout his first administration, President Donald Trump did more than any other president to politicize the nation’s top law enforcement agency, pressuring his appointees to shield him, to go after his enemies, and even to help him remain in office after his 2020 election defeat. They say the Justice Department has never fully recovered. 

Decisions and actions by the Justice Department during the Trump and Biden presidencies demonstrate how much has changed. Leonnig and Davis explore what has happened in their new book Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department. They say the subversion of the Justice Department over the last decade threatens rule of law in the United States as we have long known it. 

They put blame not only on Trump administration efforts to undermine the department but also the delays in investigating Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election under Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland. Leonnig and Davis say a daily war was secretly waged for the soul of the department. 

Join us for a special online-only discussion that will take you inside the rooms where fateful decisions were made—with fateful results. Hear Leonnig and Davis’ jaw-dropping account of political partisans and enablers wrecking democracy, heroes who still battle to preserve the rule of law, and a call to action for those who believe in liberty and justice for all.

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