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Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends Hardcover – March 20, 2018
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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
Peter Schweizer has been fighting corruption—and winning—for years. In Throw Them All Out, he exposed insider trading by members of Congress, leading to the passage of the STOCK Act. In Extortion, he uncovered how politicians use mafia-like tactics to enrich themselves. And in Clinton Cash, he revealed the Clintons’ massive money machine and sparked an FBI investigation.
Now he explains how a new corruption has taken hold, involving larger sums of money than ever before. Stuffing tens of thousands of dollars into a freezer has morphed into multibillion-dollar equity deals done in the dark corners of the world.
An American bank opening in China would be prohibited by US law from hiring a slew of family members of top Chinese politicians. However, a Chinese bank opening in America can hire anyone it wants. It can even invite the friends and families of American politicians to invest in can’t-lose deals.
President Donald Trump’s children have made front pages across the world for their dicey transactions. However, the media has barely looked into questionable deals made by those close to Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Mitch McConnell, and lesser-known politicians who have been in the game longer.
In many parts of the world, the children of powerful political figures go into business and profit handsomely, not necessarily because they are good at it, but because people want to curry favor with their influential parents. This is a relatively new phenomenon in the United States. But for relatives of some prominent political families, we may already be talking about hundreds of millions of dollars.
Deeply researched and packed with shocking revelations, Secret Empires identifies public servants who cannot be trusted and provides a path toward a more accountable government.
- Print length336 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper
- Publication dateMarch 20, 2018
- Dimensions6 x 1.11 x 9 inches
- ISBN-109780062569363
- ISBN-13978-0062569363
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“Fascinating.” — Wall Street Journal
About the Author
Peter Schweizer is the president of the Government Accountability Institute and the former William J. Casey Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He is a number one New York Times bestselling author whose books have been translated into eleven languages.
Product details
- ASIN : 0062569368
- Publisher : Harper; Illustrated edition (March 20, 2018)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 336 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780062569363
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062569363
- Item Weight : 1.2 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.11 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #95,680 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #28 in United States Local Government
- #145 in Political Corruption & Misconduct
- #154 in United States National Government
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Investigative journalist and author Peter Schweizer's most recent book, the #1 New York Times bestselling "BLOOD MONEY: How the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye to China Killing Americans," will shock Americans with the extent of China's hidden war on America. His books have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list eight times, including for "Red Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win," as well as "Profiles in Corruption," "Secret Empires," and "Clinton Cash," all bestsellers.
Peter founded the Government Accountability Institute (GAI) in 2012, Previously, he was a consultant to the Office of Presidential Speechwriting in the White House for President George W. Bush. He has also served as a member of the Ultraterrorism Study Group at the U.S. government’s Sandia National Laboratory and is a former consultant to NBC News. His books have been translated into eleven languages and he is a frequent guest commentator on television networks, radio talk shows, and podcasts. He is also the host of GAI’s own weekly podcast, The Drill Down, which relentlessly exposes cronyism and corruption in Washington.
Peter is also the author of the book Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets. Both Extortion and the preceding book, Throw Them All Out, were featured in segments on CBS’s 60 Minutes program.
His other nonfiction books include Reagan’s War (Doubleday, 2002), which the Washington Post praised as “a fascinating, well-written, useful and important look at one of the three or four most important American political leaders of the 20th century. No serious assessment of the 40th president of the United States can ignore the central importance of anti-communism in his career; after Schweizer none will.” The Los Angeles Times called it “A rousing and compelling case that Reagan’s personal and political odyssey…was central to bringing down the ‘evil empire.” He is also the co-author of The Bushes: Portrait of a Dynasty (Doubleday, 2004), which the New York Times called “Fascinating…Provides illuminating insights into the internal dynamics of the Bush family dynasty.” The New York Post declared “If you want to know as fully as can be told the story of how the Bushes rose from Midwestern obscurity to equal the records of families like the Roosevelts, the Kennedys, and the Adamses — this is the book.”
Other nonfiction works include Architects of Ruin (Harper, 2009) Victory (Atlantic Monthly Press, 1994) , Do As I Say (Not As I Do) (Doubleday, 2005), and Makers and Takers (Doubleday, 2008).
His academic books include Landmark Speeches of the American Conservative Movement (Texas A&M University Press, 2006) The Reagan Presidency: Assessing the Man and His Legacy (Rowman and Littlefield, 2005), and The Fall Of The Wall: Reassessing the Causes and Consequences of the End of the Cold War (Hoover Institution Press, 2000). He was also a contributor to Living in the Eighties (Oxford University Press, 2008)
His articles have appeared in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Review, and elsewhere. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs.
Peter received his M.Phil. from Oxford University and his B.A. from George Washington University. He lives in Florida with his wife, Rhonda, and his children.
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It is no secret that Mitch McConnell has soft positions when it comes to China, but it was surprising how close his wife’s shipping family is with the Chinese Communist Party. When Elaine Chao was Secretary of Labor, this reader on two occasions sat across the aisle from her on United Airline’s non-stop flight from Beijing to Chicago. It was on the second occasion that I was left wondering why does the Secretary of Labor travel to China so frequently? Now we know.
As one reads through the various chapters, you simply wonder how these people get away with this stuff. If President Trump did half of the deals in office that evidently Penny Pritzker did as Secretary of Commerce under Obama, he would be promptly tarred and feathered by the most trusted name in news. The section of Jared Kushner was interesting, although it seems that at this time the only thing that he can be charged with is not being the smartest businessman.
While Joe Biden hints at running for president in 2020, with this book now on the streets, there is no way that he can. The multiple deals for his son Hunter in China and the Ukraine, while his father was actively involved in both countries hints for a Special Prosecutor. And that goes as well for the step-son of John Kerry, Chris Heinz, who was involved with Hunter Biden in several of these get rich awfully fast schemes. And perhaps more frightening is the expansion of China into the South China Sea, an action that could have been, should have been, stopped by Joe Biden & John Kerry but was not, and this reader wonders why.
And then there is the massive snatch & grab schemes by the friends of Obama’s anti-industry regulations. It is deep and you simply need to read the book to grasp what happened while the nation slept. The writing is supported with 71 pages of notes. As usual, good job Mr. Schweizer.
I found this book a well researched and fast read which happened on my recent flights to New York City to attended stockholder meetings. Although the center of the book was slow due to my lack of interest in the subjects, however, I was fascinated by the beginning and the end of the text, especially regarding Soros and Kushner.
I have personally been through the disclosure process and have felt the violation of my privacy over a no-relevant inquiry. Political figures should have continuous disclosure due to the apparent conflicts. I have some issue with the author's points made in Chapter 10 where he criticizers Obama cronies that took advantage of the harsh restrictions placed on the energy sector which drove down the stocks of many of these companies to lower prices in which they then bought them at bargain prices, “Smash and Grab.” I have to inform Mr. Schweizer anyone buying the market did the same during this period!
The author has done extensive research of the individuals mentioned and provides good council on political ethics recommendation in his conclusion. I can firmly agree we need a Domestic Corrupt Practice Act similar to the foreign act. If you are interested in how corruption by proxy amongst the US political elite occurs and how they sell you out each day-read this book.
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Reviewed in Canada on May 23, 2020



