“A case study in how the democratic ideal of equal justice under the law collides with the squalid realities of America’s political system. Based on the award-winning hit podcast, Bag Man expands and deepens the story of Spiro Agnew’s scandal and its lasting influence on our politics, our media, and our understanding of what it takes to confront a criminal in the White House.Īvailable in Hardcover and eBook: Amazon Barnes and Noble Books A Million IndieBound Hudson Booksellers Powell’s Target Walmart

Bush–and the backroom bargain that forced Agnew’s resignation but also spared him years in federal prison. In this blockbuster account, Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz detail the investigation that exposed Agnew’s crimes, the attempts at a cover-up–which involved future president George H. The self-described “counterpuncher” vice president did everything he could to bury their investigation: dismissing it as a “witch hunt,” riling up his partisan base, making the press the enemy, and, with a crumbling circle of loyalists, scheming to obstruct justice in order to survive. Long on firebrand rhetoric and short on political experience, Agnew had carried out a bribery and extortion ring in office for years, when–at the height of Watergate–three young federal prosecutors discovered his crimes and launched a mission to take him down before it was too late, before Nixon’s impending downfall elevated Agnew to the presidency. Agnew, the former governor of Maryland, was Richard Nixon’s second-in-command. Is it possible for a sitting vice president to direct a vast criminal enterprise within the halls of the White House? To have one of the most brazen corruption scandals in American history play out while nobody’s paying attention? And for that scandal to be all but forgotten decades later?

“Both a thriller and a history book, Bag Man is a triumph of storytelling.’ -Preet Bharara, NYT bestselling author of Doing Justice & host of the podcast Stay Tuned with Preet The knockdown, drag-out, untold story of the other scandal that rocked Nixon’s White House, and reset the rules for crooked presidents to come–with new reporting that expands on Rachel Maddow’s Peabody Award-nominated podcast. BAG MAN THE WILD CRIMES, AUDACIOUS COVER-UP, AND SPECTACULAR DOWNFALL OF A BRAZEN CROOK IN THE WHITE HOUSE

Rachel maddow's new book