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—a key figure in the conservative legal movement—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 modern freedom of the press 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 with libel law threats 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 First Amendment
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 and the rise of authoritarianism 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. Enrich's urgent investigation reveals the hidden architecture of this legal
war: The Plot to Kill a Precedent: Go inside the decades-long campaign to overturn New York
Times v. Sullivan and dismantle the bedrock of a free press. Weaponizing the Legal System:
Uncover the tactics used by powerful figures like Donald Trump and secretive billionaires to
silence journalists through crippling lawsuits including the inside story of the infamous
Gawker lawsuit. Clarence Thomas's Crusade: Trace Justice Clarence Thomas's evolution from a
defender of a free press to the intellectual leader of the movement to empower the wealthy to
sue their critics into submission. The War on Truth: Examine the real-world consequences of
legal intimidation from the chilling effect on investigative reporting to the growing threat
of disinformation in America.
