The Chickenshit Club
The Chickenshit Club begins 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. It then 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 of today.
Praise for The Chickenshit Club
“Jesse Eisinger is a master journalist. Revelatory, maddening, and engrossing, the book draws on vivid characters and immersive narratives to chart the rise of the corruption and the inertia within the Justice Department."
— Bryan Burrough, co-author of Barbarians at the Gate and author of Days of Rage
“In a spare, elegant and unrelenting narrative, Jesse Eisinger's The Chickenshit Club tackles one of the biggest remaining mysteries about the 2008 financial crisis: Why the American justice system failed miserably in its responsibility to hold Wall Street accountable for its unforgivable behavior in exacerbating the near-meltdown of the global banking system. It's a surprising story of cowardice and greed that will get your blood boiling all over again.”
— William D. Cohan, author of Why Wall Street Matters
"This magisterial work is vital reading for everyone concerned by the untrammeled influence of financial institutions and corporations on American society and the nation's political life. Its grim details form a picture of how a system to hold to account the titans of boardrooms has been rendered toothless. Eisinger writes with clarity and style, delivering a story that is by turns fascinating, disturbing, and—dare I say it?—hugely entertaining."
— Zia Haider Rahman, author of In the Light of What We Know