Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful

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David Enrich

Murder the Truth

Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful

David Enrich

$73.95

Hardback

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English

Collins
11 March 2025

Media studies; Politics & government; Liberalism & centre democratic ideologies; Conservatism & right-of-centre democratic ideologies; Political corruption; Defamation law (slander & libel)

New York Times Bestseller

""Authoritarian governments abroad have long used legal threats and lawsuits against journalists to cover up their disinformation, corruption, and violence. Now, as master investigative journalist David Enrich reveals, those tactics have arrived in America."" -- Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of Strongmen

David Enrich, the New York Times Business Investigations Editor and the #1 bestselling author of Dark Towers, produces his most consequential and far-reaching investigation yet: an in-depth exposé of the broad campaign--orchestrated by elite Americans--to silence dissent and protect the powerful.

It was a quiet way to announce a revolution: In an obscure 2019 case that the Supreme Court refused to even hear, Justice Clarence Thomas raised the prospect of overturning the legendary New York Times v. Sullivan decision. Though hardly a household name,

Sullivan is one of the most consequential free speech decisions, ever. Fundamental to the creation of the modern media as we know it, it has enabled journalists and writers all over the country--from top national publications to revered local newspapers to independent bloggers--to pursue the truth aggressively and hold the wealthy, powerful, and corrupt to account.

Thomas's words were a warning--the public awakening of an idea that had been fomenting on the conservative fringe for years. Now it is going mainstream. From the Florida statehouse to small town New Hampshire to Donald Trump's White House, this movement today consists of some of the world's richest and most powerful people and companies, who believe they should be above scrutiny and want to silence or delegitimize voices that challenge their supremacy. Indeed, many of the same businessmen, politicians, lawyers, and activists are already weaponizing the legal system to intimidate and punish journalists and others who dare criticize them.

In this masterwork of investigative reporting, David Enrich, New York Times Business Investigations Editor, traces the roots and reach of this growing threat to our modern democracy. With Trump's emboldened right-wing coalition committed to demonizing and punishing those who attempt to hold them accountable, Murder the Truth sounds the alarm about the looming war over facts, laying bare the stakes of losing our most sacrosanct rights. The result is a story about power in the age of Trump--the way it's used by those who have it and the lengths to which they will go to avoid it being questioned.

By: David Enrich
Imprint: Collins
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 231mm, Width: 157mm, Spine: 36mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9780063372900
ISBN 10: 0063372908
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 11 March 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

David Enrich is the Business Investigations Editor at the New York Times and the bestselling author of Dark Towers and Servants of the Damned. The winner of numerous journalism awards, he previously was an editor and reporter at the Wall Street Journal. His first book, The Spider Network: How a Math Genius and Gang of Scheming Bankers Pulled Off One of the Greatest Scams in History, was short-listed for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year award. Enrich grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, and graduated from Claremont McKenna College in California. He currently lives in New York with his wife and two sons.

Reviews for Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful

""Authoritarian governments abroad have long used legal threats and lawsuits against journalists to cover up their disinformation, corruption, and violence. Now, as master investigative journalist David Enrich reveals, those tactics have arrived in America. Murder the Truth is a timely and essential study of how these favored legal tools of repressive regimes are being regularly deployed in the United States to conceal the truth, discredit the press, and benefit anti-democratic forces."" -- Ruth Ben-Ghiat, author of Strongmen ""This important book is about an attempted murder. With readers as witnesses, we see small newspapers killed, and editors and publishers terrorized by legal assaults from public officials who demonize the press as Enemies of the People. Yet as this riveting narrative shows, the ultimate target is the Supreme Court's landmark New York Times vs Sullivan decision, which erected a First Amendment wall to protect journalists from being silenced by those in power. David Enrich's engrossing, carefully reported account is vital to help prevent this murder."" -- New York Times bestselling author Ken Auletta ""This is the deeply reported, richly narrated story of a war on honest journalism that disturbs the interests of the wealthy and powerful. David Enrich takes us behind the scenes of a concerted right-wing campaign to destroy news organizations financially -- but the ultimate goal is to overturn New York Times v. Sullivan, the linchpin of libel protection for reporters who err in good faith. Nothing less than the future of accountability journalism is at stake."" -- Barton Gellman, New York Times bestselling author and three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize ""Astonishing...A powerful and important picture of how mega law firms distort justice."" -- Washington Post on Servants of the Damned ""Servants of the Damned is a feat of thoughtful, detailed research, rendering with clarity and even compassion the moral drift of 'big law.' As an attorney, I found it illuminating--but this is important reading for anyone concerned about law and policy."" -- Ronan Farrow, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Catch and Kill ""A deep dive into the law firm that became one of the key institutions in the president's orbit. ... Jones Day lawyers figured prominently in Trump's rise to power and his exercise of it. Enrich treats the relationship as a sign of a broader decline in ethical standards at big American law firms."" -- Financial Times on Servants of the Damned ""Enrich compellingly shows how unchecked ambition twisted a pillar of German finance into a reckless casino where amorality and criminality thrived."" -- New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice) on Dark Towers ""A revelatory book about the rise and fall of the world's biggest bank. ... Has all the elements of a page-turning mystery novel"" -- Washington Post on Dark Towers ""A chilling deep dive . . . an unsettling look at a dire threat to democracy."" -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) ""A revealing look at a campaign intended to stifle the First Amendment in favor of those in power."" -- Kirkus Reviews