Scoop: Biden lawyer Bob Bauer's book coming soon
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Bob Bauer, President Biden's personal lawyer, is publishing a memoir next month that analyzes America's current political environment, a person familiar with the matter told Axios.
Why it matters: The book will include anecdotes from Biden's 2020 campaign, during which Bauer led the campaign's legal battles against Donald Trump.
Driving the news: "The Unraveling: Reflections on Politics without Ethics and Democracy in Crisis," will come out June 18. Presidential historian Jon Meacham wrote the forward.
- Bauer, 72, has been a consequential figure in the past three Democratic administrations.
- He was White House counsel to the Democratic Senate leader during the impeachment of Bill Clinton, then as the chief counsel on Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns, and most recently represented Biden during the special counsel investigation into his handling of classified materials.
Between the lines: Bauer is closely involved with Biden's re-election campaign and is married to top White House aide Anita Dunn, so the book isn't expected to be a dishy tell-all.
- Bauer had a pivotal and front-seat role in the legal battles during the 2020 election that culminated in Trump supporters trying to overturn the election results in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
- Bauer then helped orchestrate the bipartisan reform of the Electoral Count Act — the ambiguous 19th-century law that Trump tried to exploit on Jan. 6 — to try to prevent a future president from doing so again.
Bottom line: Bauer has been one of the most influential Democratic Party lawyers in the 21st century, and his book will be closely read by allies and adversaries alike.
