The Wolves of K Street: The Secret History of How Big Money Took Over Big Government

(Hardback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

A dazzling and infuriating portrait of fifty years of corporate influence in Washington, The Wolves of K Street is a masterpiece of narrative nonfictionirresistibly dramatic, spectacularly timely, explosive in its revelations, and absolutely 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 feet and a bullet his head.

Reviews

An instant classicdeeply reported, powerfully told and profoundly important. Its one of the best books I've read on Washington in many years.
Peter Baker, New York Times bestselling author of The Man Who Ran Washington (on X)
A not-so-guilty pleasure. The Mullins brothers cleverly set up their story as a mystery with considerable narrative skill and novelistic detail.
James B. Stewart,The New York Times
If you want to understand how American democracy went off the rails, all you need to do is read this book.
Christopher Leonard, New York Times bestselling author of The Lords of Easy Money
A vivid, brilliantly told tale that unfolds like a novel, this is the mostpotent portrait of the Washington swamp you will read.
Ken Auletta,New York Timesbestselling author ofGoogled
Absorbing.... This is the deep state.
Franklin Foer, The Atlantic
Engrossing. Smoothly written, meticulously researched, The Wolves of K Street informs and mesmerizes.
The Guardian
A fast-paced deep dive into a world of greed and ambition, inhabited by a uniquely fascinating group of wheelers and dealers.The Wolves of K Streetis a history ofnot onlyhow money and power have influenced American politics, but how the work of lobbyists touches the lives of every American.
Kate Andersen Brower,New York Timesbestselling author ofThe Residence
One of the most amazing developments in modern American politics is how Donald Trumps Republican Party seems to have supplanted FDRs Democratic Party as the political home of the working man. Anyone who wants to understand this transformation should read Brody and Luke Mullinss new book.
The Washington Free Beacon
However nefarious you think the lobbying industry is in Washington, Brody and Luke Mullins have news: Its worse. Not even during the Roaring Twenties and the Gilded Age did corporate American wield so much influence. In their deeply reported, compelling new book, the Mullins brothers track how that happened, and the disastrous consequences.
Susan Page,New York Timesbestselling author ofThe Matriarch
This is nothingless than the definitive history of how corporate lobbyists took over Washington. The Mullins brothershave brought us the story of how Washington really worksand for whom.
Jonathan Martin,New York Timesbestselling coauthor ofThis Will Not Pass

Author Bio

Brody Mullins is an investigative reporter in the Washington, DC, bureau ofThe Wall Street Journal,where he led the team that won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting.

Luke Mullins is a contributing writer atPolitico magazine, where he covers the people and institutions that control Washingtons levers of power.