The Wolves of K Street

A dazzling and infuriating portrait of fifty years of corporate influence in Washington, The Wolves of K Street is a not-so-guilty pleasure (The New York Times): irresistibly dramatic, spectacularly timely, explosive in its revelations, and impossible to put down. In the 1970s, Washingtons center of power began to shift away from elected officials in big marble buildings to a handful of savvy, handsomely paid operators who didnt answer to any fixed constituency. The cigar-chomping son of an influential congressman, an illustrious political fixer with a weakness for modern art, a Watergate-era dirty trickster, the citys favorite cocktail party hostthese were the sort of men who now ran Washington. Over four decades, theyd chart new ways to turn their clients cash into political leverage, abandoning favor-trading in smoke-filled rooms for increasingly sophisticated tactics, such as shadow lobbying, where underground campaigns sparked seemingly organic public outcries to pressure lawmakers into taking actions that would ultimately benefit corporate interests rather than ordinary citizens. With billions of dollars at play, these lobbying dynasties enshrined in Washington a pro-business consensus that would guide the countrys political leadersDemocrats and Republicans alike. A good lobbyist could ghostwrite a bill or even secretly kill a piece of legislation supported by the president, both houses of Congress, and a majority of Americans. Yet nothing lasts forever. Amid a populist backlash to the soaring inequality these influence peddlers helped usher in, DCs pro-business alliance suddenly began to fray. And while the lobbying establishment would continue to invent new ways to influence Washington, the men whod built K Street would soon find themselves under legal scrutiny, on the verge of financial collapse or worse. One would turn up dead behind the eighteenth green of an exclusive golf club, with a $1,500 bottle of wine at his feed and bullet in his head. An absorbing (The Atlantic), engrossing and meticulously researched tale (The Guardian)brought to life with novelistic detail and considerable narrative skill (The New York Times)The Wolves of K Street is essential reading for anyone looking to understand how corporate interests are undermining American democracy.