NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ⢠The knockdown, drag-out, untold story of the other scandal that rocked Nixonâs White House, and reset the rules for crooked presidents to comeâwith new reporting that expands on Rachel Maddowâs Peabody Awardânominated podcast âBoth a thriller and a history book, Bag Man is a triumph of storytelling.ââPreet Bharara, New York Times bestselling author ofDoing Justiceand host of the podcast Stay Tuned with Preet
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 nobodyâs paying attention? And for that scandal to be all but forgotten decades later?
The year was 1973, and Spiro T. Agnew, the former governor of Maryland, was Richard Nixonâs second-in-command. Long on firebrand rhetoric and short on political experience, Agnew had carried out a bribery and extortion ring in office for years, whenâat the height of Watergateâthree young federal prosecutors discovered his crimes and launched a mission to take him down before it was too late, before Nixonâs impending downfall elevated Agnew to the presidency. The self-described âcounterpuncherâ vice president did everything he could to bury their investigation: dismissing it as a âwitch hunt,â 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.
In this blockbuster account, Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz detail the investigation that exposed Agnewâs crimes, the attempts at a cover-upâwhich involved future president George H. W. Bushâand the backroom bargain that forced Agnewâs resignation but also spared him years in federal prison. Based on the award-winning hit podcast, Bag Man expands and deepens the story of Spiro Agnewâs 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.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ⢠The knockdown, drag-out, untold story of the other scandal that rocked Nixonâs White House, and reset the rules for crooked presidents to comeâwith new reporting that expands on Rachel Maddowâs Peabody Awardânominated podcast âBoth a thriller and a history book, Bag Man is a triumph of storytelling.ââPreet Bharara, New York Times bestselling author ofDoing Justiceand host of the podcast Stay Tuned with Preet
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 nobodyâs paying attention? And for that scandal to be all but forgotten decades later?
The year was 1973, and Spiro T. Agnew, the former governor of Maryland, was Richard Nixonâs second-in-command. Long on firebrand rhetoric and short on political experience, Agnew had carried out a bribery and extortion ring in office for years, whenâat the height of Watergateâthree young federal prosecutors discovered his crimes and launched a mission to take him down before it was too late, before Nixonâs impending downfall elevated Agnew to the presidency. The self-described âcounterpuncherâ vice president did everything he could to bury their investigation: dismissing it as a âwitch hunt,â 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.
In this blockbuster account, Rachel Maddow and Michael Yarvitz detail the investigation that exposed Agnewâs crimes, the attempts at a cover-upâwhich involved future president George H. W. Bushâand the backroom bargain that forced Agnewâs resignation but also spared him years in federal prison. Based on the award-winning hit podcast, Bag Man expands and deepens the story of Spiro Agnewâs 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.