When You Come at the King

Inside DOJ's Pursuit of the President, From Nixon to Trump

By: Elie Honig

Narrated by: Elie Honig

""[A] deeply researched, keenly analytical, and frequently provocative chronicle of this singular judicial entity. . . . A senior legal analyst for CNN and former assistant U.S. attorney, Honig is well-suited to the task of providing a historical overview of the special counsel's function with the ever-evolving context of politics, partisanship and political skepticism."" —Booklist (STARRED review)

""A fascinating, fast-paced insider’s account....[a] riveting, deeply reported book.” —Anderson Cooper

“Every page hums with gripping anecdotes and breaking news journalism."" —Douglas Brinkley

Imagine you’ve been put in charge of investigating your own boss—who also happens to be the most powerful person on the planet.

You might unearth information that will be politically, professionally, and personally devastating to your subject, and you alone hold the power to indict and potentially imprison him. At the same time, the boss can fire you and end the case—and might even turn the tables and launch an inquiry aimed at you. As the lone-wolf assassin Omar put it in The Wire: “You come at the king, you best not miss.”

That’s the crucible for any Special Counsel. For decades, the Department of Justice has appointed outside prosecutors to handle our highest-stakes cases. But do these independent investigations lead to just results?

In When You Come at the King, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig delivers a fast-paced, insider’s account of the most important Justice Department investigations of the past fifty years, based on dozens of on-record interviews with firsthand participants. A Watergate prosecutor reveals she hid copies of key documents at home to guard against potential destruction of evidence by the president’s allies. A member of the Iran–Contra prosecution team explains why they made a shocking election-eve revelation. A defense lawyer for Donald Trump details his private meeting with Jack Smith just days before Trump was indicted.

From Ken Starr’s investigation of Bill Clinton to modern cases involving Patrick Fitzgerald, Robert Mueller, Jack Smith, and more, Honig charts how the Special Counsel system developed and evolved over time. We know the maxim that a nation can be measured by how it treats its weakest members. This book explores an inverse corollary: A nation reveals much about itself by how it holds accountable its most powerful leaders when they’ve done wrong.

Now, with the future of Special Counsels in doubt, When You Come at the King addresses the most important question of all: Can the system evolve to better serve the call for justice?

Elie Honig has one of the best organized minds I’ve ever read.

Mr. Honig has a particular skill at explaining the complex concepts of the legal system in a way that makes it easy for the layperson to understand his subject. Thanks, Elie!

Excellent

Explained so much and filled in gaps in my processing of years watching the American legal system. To bad we have all heard all this so we can intelligently process what so much of how our legal system plays out.

A-Z of the Special Counsel

Elie Honig’s comprehensive look at the history of the position variously known as “independent counsel,” “special prosecutor,” and “special counsel” has never been more timely. Honig explores the Justice Department’s flawed attempts to hold the nation’s highest officials to account for malfeasance by in-depth examination of their investigations, from the Nixon administration to the Trump administration. The denseness of the topic makes it a little challenging as an audiobook, but there are definitely some surprises here: his attempts at rehabilitating Robert Bork’s actions during Watergate; a blow-by-blow description of AG Loretta Lynch and former Pres. Bill Clinton’s tarmac meeting (which seems quaint by comparison to Trump’s interference with his own AG); and Honig’s disdain for James Comey. In the end, he offers recommendations for improvement of the office, but one wonders how anything works when the man in the Oval Office has utter contempt for the law. New sources, too.

Masterclass and then some!

Make no mistake. Elie Honig offers the very top shelf ability to thread the needle with every word, taking us back through so many super complex political and legal mine fields, with crystal clear clarity. It is a little like getting on board a ride while Elie is your tour guide and the passengers just keep saying, "wow" with 10 different meanings.

I always stop and listen to Elie's legal analysis on CNN because he offers concise, unbiased clarity, so I knew this book was going to deliver, but wow?! This is at a level that only someone who has the 160+ IQ and someone who has made it his life's work to break things all down for the rest of us who try like hell every day to do OUR due diligence to understand.

This will be a book I need to listen to 3 or 4 more times to comprehend the finer details.

Bravo on this book, Elie. Bravo on being the narrator. No one else would have done it justice. No one. I cannot say enough positive, including the final words of hope and some very strategically added quotes.

Extremely grateful there are good guys like this still left in the middle of 2025.

C'mon my Bentley dog. We are going for a walk so I can start my second listen...

crazy

it is CRAZY how much you can forget in such a short period of time.