Cheating Justice: How Bush and Cheney Attacked the Rule of Law, Plotted to Avoid Prosecution—And What We Can Do About It

Former Democratic congresswoman Holtzman of New York teams up with Cooper (The Impeachment of George W. Bush) for a detailed investigation into how the Bush administration broke the law. While much speculation has been made over the former president’s awareness of the lack of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq before the declaration of war, this book barrels through his defense strategies to prove his guilt. Through carefully documenting the dates of speeches he gave to the public and Congress against the dates of investigations and reports back to him regarding the situation in Iraq, Holtzman alleges that the president was more than aware of the erroneous information in his addresses. She further examines how the Bush administration bypassed legality to set up wiretaps, tortured detainees, evaded internal investigations, and withheld government documents. It’s an impressive effort, but the book suffers from its brevity and poor organization. Some sections place quotations of legislation alongside countless memorandums and documents to create something that’s oftentimes incomprehensible. The case for conspiracy becomes confusing, the data disorienting, and at times the book is bafflingly dense. It’s unfortunate, as the amount of information collected is astounding, and the extent of the authors’ research is admirable. But without more explanation and analysis, accessibility is sacrificed. (Feb.)