New book by "Clinton Cash" author targets "vast corruption" in D.C.
Courtesy HarperCollins
Peter Schweizer, author of the bestselling "Clinton Cash," is headed to Capitol Hill this week to tell senators and House members about his new book, out March 20, "Secret Empires: How Our Politicians Hide Corruption and Enrich Their Families and Friends."
Why it matters: According to publishing sources, "The book will expose vast corruption by top Washington figures who leverage their political power to enrich their family members and friends, often by helping grease deals with foreign entities."
More from publishing sources:
"The book is under a strict embargo, however sources reveal members of both parties will get a full Schweizer drill-down, including current members of Congress, high-ranking Obama officials, and the Trump family. "
HarperCollins says "Secret Empires" will have a first printing of 150,000.
Exclusive scenes for Axios readers from a book out next Tuesday by N.Y. Times writer at large Amy Chozick, "Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling":
"At the election-eve rally in Philadelphia with Bruce Springsteen, Hillary joined Obama onstage. He crouched down a little to kick a step stool closer to her podium. 'When you’re president, it’s gonna be permanently there for you,' Obama whispered in her ear before kissing her cheek and exiting stage right."
An off-record spaghetti dinner for reporters at campaign chairman John Podesta's home in D.C.: "Maggie Haberman sat near the center of the main table. She didn’t have to work the room. Everyone came up to her. "
Email: "Hillary could’ve acknowledged it was a mistake and apologized, but even as I joined the delirium of the scrum, I understood her instinct. She thought using a private email was another nonstory ('the biggest nothing burger') started by the Times and amplified by her political rivals. Every elected official ... used a personal email. Why should she apologize?"
"[T]he day Trump announced he was running, I admitted to a couple of Times editors that I’d watched eight seasons of The Apprentice and that we should do a story about it. They told me political reporters wouldn’t be writing about Trump. 'We have enough candidates to cover,' one editor said. 'Let the TV writers do it.'"
" [O]ur Polish housekeeper, Wanda, ... is so bad at her job that a couple of friends who’ve also used her for years came home early once to find Wanda watching TV in their bed. But she is a solid person and charges eighty dollars to clean a two-bedroom apartment, including laundry. She also happened to clean Don Jr.’s and Eric Trump’s New York apartments. In 2014, Eric and Lara invited Wanda to their wedding at Mar-a-Lago — which, despite what anyone thinks about the Trump sons, was a class-act thing to do."
Go deeper: The cover of tomorrow's N.Y. Times Sunday Review features an adaptation from Amy's book, "'They Were Never Going To Let Me Be President' ... Covering Hillary Clinton’s campaign from before it started to the very last moment."
WashPost review by Carlos Lozada: "It’s a buffet-style book — media criticism here, trail reminiscences there, political analysis and assorted recollections."
