âSets a standard for political storytelling with impeccable research and lively writing.â âKirkus Reviews (starred review)
âPage-turningâŚrivetingâŚcolorful and detailedâŚa barometer of the health of our democracy.â âBarbara McQuade, The Washington Post
Two investigations. Two impeachments. Two acquittals. One president. The full story.
Unprecedented. Unimaginable. Until Donald Trumpâs presidency.
A year apart, two ferocious political dramas challenged American democracy. As Pulitzer Prizeâwinning Washington Post reporters Kevin Sullivan and Mary Jordan show in this gripping account, the two Trump impeachments and acquittals shared common threads: An American president, relentless in his drive to win re-election, willing to disregard the laws that limit his powers, no matter the cost. A divided Congress, split along party lines, unable to agree on whether Trumpâs actions met the Constitutional standard for removal from office. The Constitution itself, tested in ways that its framers had not anticipated.
Trumpâs Trials is an expanded version of Trump on Trial, Sullivan and Jordanâs compelling and masterful 2020 account of the first impeachment. That narrative, a crisp page-turner with exquisite detail and vivid scenes, deftly conveyed the calculations of the central ďŹgures, in particular Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell. The authors have added three new chapters, and revised others, to carry the narrative through the 2020 presidential election of Joe Biden; Trumpâs feverish attempts to overturn Bidenâs victory; his supportersâ deadly attack on the Capitol as Congress was certifying the electoral votes; Trumpâs second impeachment and acquittalâbut this time, with seven Republican senators voting against him.
Sullivan and Jordan, aided by editor Steve Luxenberg, have written a fast-paced, authoritative account of the historic events that rocked Americaâan invaluable examination of what happened and why.