Devils' advocates The hidden story of Rudy Giuliani, Hunter Biden, and the Washington insiders on the payrolls of corrupt foreign interests

In this explosive investigation, New York Times journalist Vogel (Big Money) casts a harsh light on how U.S. elites exploit their proximity to power to garner lucrative deals with oligarchs and authoritarian leaders abroad. He does so by tracking the similar trajectories of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who first began consulting for foreign clients in 2002 and whose firm garnered million-dollar contracts with international autocrats during the first Trump administration, and Hunter Biden, who worked with oligarch-owned Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma during his father's vice presidency. Vogel gives a meticulous recap of Giuliani and Hunter's overlapping influence peddling and its culmination in the Trump administration's "Ukrainian pressure campaign" seeking an investigation into President Biden. He also examines the history of the foreign lobbying industry, from 1930s PR campaigns "to soften Germany's reputation" in the U.S., to the more recent innovations of figures like Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, who forged the blueprint of contemporary lobbying, and Robert Stryk, who gained prominence due to his willingness to take on "toxic" clients. Vogel's deeply reported account reveals the staggering extent of corruption across both Republican and Democratic administrations; while he emphasizes that Trump's transactional approach to the presidency is more overt, he shows that foreign lobbying simply "moved further underground" during the Biden administration. It's a damning picture of U.S. foreign policy as up for sale. (Oct.)

Influencers of a different kind. This is an impressive exposé of an industry that aims to connect "toxic" overseas clients with lawmakers from both parties. Some readers would happily forget this book's infamous figures, but Vogel delivers an important message: The foreign influence business is "more rapacious than ever." Though theNew York Times reporter is perhaps too permissive in letting his subjects spin suspect anecdotes, his book is full of small scoops backed by "previously unreported" memos, letters, and emails. Headed by Paul Manafort, Hunter Biden, Rudy Giuliani, and relative newcomer Robert Stryk--"rhymes with 'trick,'" Vogel slyly writes--the cast of rogues gets help from erstwhile U.S. officials who wield their résumés for ethically hazy profit. Government documents show that authoritarian governments spent $150 million on "disclosed lobbying" in two recent years. Such efforts "can shape the treaties, tariffs, and trade policies" that affect consumer prices and jobs. Vogel's subjects are unembarrassed, openly repping warlords, kleptocrats, and dictators. "I helped fix an election in a very important African country based upon U.S. interests," says Stryk. Hunter Biden alluded to his father's power when negotiating with a Chinese businessman and "work[ed] against stated U.S. foreign policy interests" in Romania. Ex-FBI boss Louis Freeh has made money authoring "nominally independent reports" boosting the reputations of foreign leaders facing charges, the author writes. This isn't a new phenomenon. Vogel helpfully notes that Jimmy Carter's son and brother lobbied for overseas strongmen. The industry "didn't slow during Obama's administration or Biden's," and President Trump's attorney general Pam Bondi--herself a former lobbyist for Qatar--has axed some of the FBI's anti--foreign influence tools. As this smart, brisk book shows, there's "never been a moment like this" for what one lobbyist calls their "shitbag world." A damning journalistic survey of the lucrative business linking despots and D.C. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.