The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute ExecutivesWinner of the 2018 Excellence in Financial Journalism Award From Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Jesse Eisinger, “a fast moving, fly-on-the-wall, disheartening look at the deterioration of the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission…It 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 America—to pharmaceutical companies and auto manufacturers and beyond. The Chickenshit Club—an inside reference to prosecutors too scared of failure and too daunted by legal impediments to do their jobs—explains why in “an absorbing financial history, a monumental work of journalism…a 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 Department’s approach to pursuing corporate criminals through the early 2000s and into the Justice Department’s 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 reporter…Eisinger’s 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 call…a chilling read, and a needed one” (NPR.org). |
Contents
Chapter | 1 |
Chapter | 32 |
Chapter Three | 59 |
Chapter Four | 83 |
Chapter Five | 93 |
Chapter | 111 |
Chapter Seven | 125 |
THE HUNT FOR AIG | 147 |
Chapter | 186 |
Chapter Eleven | 202 |
Chapter Twelve | 228 |
Chapter Thirteen | 244 |
Chapter Fourteen | 269 |
Chapter Fifteen | 294 |
Chapter Sixteen | 312 |
Acknowledgments | 331 |
Other editions - View all
The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives Jesse Eisinger No preview available - 2018 |
Common terms and phrases
Abacus accounting agency AIG Financial Products AIG FP Arthur Andersen Bank of America bankers Bharara billion Breuer Buell Cassano charges Chertoff Citigroup client Comey corporate corporate crime Covington crime criminal division deal defense attorneys defense bar defense lawyers deferred prosecution Delainey Department of Justice deputy attorney Egol employees enforcement Enron Task Force Fastow federal financial crisis Glisan going Goldman guilty indict insider trading investigation investors Jed Rakoff Jenner & Block judge jury Justice Department Kidney KPMG Lanny last modified law firm Lehman losses Main Justice Mary Jo White ment Merrill mortgage Muoio Neiman Obama partner Paul Paulson Pelletier probe prosecutors Rakoff regulators Ruemmler ruling Safwat settlement shareholders Southern District Sporkin Stanley Sporkin Street Journal online Thompson memo tion told took top executives trial Wall Street Journal wanted Washington Weddle white-collar wrongdoing wrote York