num_pages: 400
description: From Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Jesse Eisinger a fast moving fly-on-the-wall disheartening look at the deterioration of the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange CommissionIt is a book of superheroes (San Franscisco Review of Books).Why were no bankers put in prison after the financial crisis of 2008? Why do CEOs seem to commit wrongdoing with impunity? The problem goes beyond banks deemed Too Big to Fail to almost every large corporation in Americato pharmaceutical companies and auto manufacturers and beyond. The Chickenshit Cluban inside reference to prosecutors too scared of failure and too daunted by legal impediments to do their jobsexplains why in an absorbing financial history a monumental work of journalisma first-rate study of the federal bureaucracy (Bloomberg Businessweek).Jesse Eisigner begins the story in the 1970s when the government pioneered the notion that top corporate executives not just seedy crooks could commit heinous crimes and go to prison. He brings us to trading desks on Wall Street to corporate boardrooms and the offices of prosecutors and FBI agents. These revealing looks provide context for the evolution of the Justice Departments approach to pursuing corporate criminals through the early 2000s and into the Justice Departments approach to pursuing corporate criminals through the early 2000s and into the Justice Department of today including the prosecutorial fiascos corporate lobbying trial losses and culture shifts that have stripped the government of the will and ability to prosecute top corporate executives.Brave and elegant.a fearless reporterEisingers important and profound book takes no prisoners (The Washington Post). Exposing one of the most important scandals of our time The Chickenshit Club provides a clear detailed explanation as to how our Justice Department has come to avoid bungle and mismanage the fight to bring these alleged criminals to justice. This book is a wakeup calla chilling read and a needed one (NPR.org).
language: English
title: The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives
publisher: Simon & Schuster