Adam Schiff with Jon Meacham, "Midnight in Washington"

Adam Schiff with Jon Meacham
Midnight in Washington
Thursday, October 21 at 6 p.m. PDT :: Virtually Hosted by Elliott Bay Book Company
From 2017 onward, few people anywhere in the United States were more of a direct witness to the assault on our democracy, or did more to defend the Constitution and our institutions, than U.S. Representative Adam Schiff of California’s 28th Congressional District. As Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, he led the investigation and first impeachment trial of Donald J. Trump. In his new book, Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could (Random House), he lays out that story - and much more. “If he failed to secure the conviction of Donald Trump in the first impeachment trial, Adam Schiff has now vanquished him forever in these pages. This book will stand as the touchstone of truth against any attempts to distort or rewrite this crucial piece of history. Congressman Schiff has restored our faith in the nobility of public service and has shown what one dedicated patriot-courageous, intelligent, and fearless-can still accomplish even in a divided country.”-Ron Chernow. “When American democracy faced a near-death experience, Adam Schiff served as an able guardian, protecting our nation from enemies foreign and domestic. Schiff not only provides riveting details in this compelling account, he delivers a much-needed warning about the threats facing America from within and an urgent how-to guide for preserving our nation.”-Stacey Abrams. “If there is still an American democracy fifty years from now, historians will be very grateful for this highly personal and deeply informed guide to one of its greatest crises. We should be grateful that we can read it now.”-Timothy Snyder
“Midnight in Washington is a compelling account from a man who refused to allow our venerable institutions to crumble at the hands of authoritarianism. Equally vital, he refused to allow his Republican colleagues to look the other way. Rep. Schiff does not merely provide riveting details from inside the halls of power; he delivers a much-needed warning about the threats facing America from within and an urgent how-to guide for preserving our nation.” -Stacey Abrams, Founder of Fair Fight Action.
"In this thoughtful, absorbing and revelatory memoir, an important champion and defender of American democracy shows us how he became a national leader and, from his experiences on the inside, how close the Trump regime brought us to losing our system. Please read Adam Schiff’s book carefully and pay close heed to his warnings about the dangers that remain.”-- Michael Beschloss, New York Times-bestselling author of Presidents of War. "Adam Schiff has performed a great public service with this engrossing and illuminating new book. By taking us inside the impeachments of the 45th president, Schiff has written an important first draft of history-but it is history that is not remote or retrospective but all too immediate, for the threats to the Republic Schiff so deftly describes remain with us. If you care about American democracy, the rule of law, and the future of our imperiled nation, this is essential reading.”- Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Lion
Jon Meacham is a Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer. The author of the New York Times bestsellers His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House, Franklin and Winston, Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, and The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels, he is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University, a contributing writer for The New York Times Book Review, and a fellow of the Society of American Historians.