The Chickenshit Club: Why the Justice Department Fails to Prosecute Executives—Jesse Eisinger

Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Jesse Eisinger shares a sobering account of corporate corruption, and the response—or lack thereof—from the Department of Justice.

After the financial crisis in 2008, many asked why bank executives were not prosecuted for their involvement. CEOs of pharmaceutical companies, auto manufacturers, and other industries routinely face charges for money laundering, embezzlement, corporate fraud, and more. According to Jesse Eisinger, these corporate criminals rarely see jail time in America. Why?

The Chickenshit Club—a reference to James Comey’s term for prosecutors too timid to take on corporate wrongdoing—seeks to answer to this question. A character-driven narrative, the book tells the story from inside the Department of Justice. Eisinger’s complex story spans the last decade and a half of prosecutorial misfires, corporate lobbying, trial losses, and culture shifts that have compromised the government’s ability to prosecute top corporate executives.

In this lecture, Eisinger chronicles the Justice Department’s approach to corporate crime from the 1970s to present day. A Q&A will follow.

FIRST COME, FIRST SEATED

Registration does not guarantee admission. For free events, we generally overbook to ensure a full house. Priority will be given to those who have registered in advance, but registration does not guarantee admission. All registered seats are released 15 minutes before start time, and seats may become available at that time. A stand by line will form 30 minutes before the program.

The Programming Room opens at 6 PM.