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.
