The Investigator

August 26, 2013
One of Washington’s most in-the-know private eyes spills the beans in this canny memoir. Lenzner, a lawyer and founder of Investigative Group International, recalls his work as a Justice Department attorney hunting for the murderers of civil rights activists in Mississippi in 1964, probing the Watergate scandal for the Ervin Committee, and a slew of for-hire investigations into the identity of the Unabomber, Monica Lewinski’s background, the business dealings of Mitt Romney, and other high-profile cases. According to Lenzner, the investigator’s life is patient and dogged, a matter of tracking down legal records, sifting financial documents, building rapport with witnesses, piecing together a jigsaw puzzle of details into a coherent picture. There are few bombshells here; the biggest is his conjecture that the Watergate break-ins may have been mounted to conceal bribes paid by billionaire Howard Hughes to President Nixon. The truth Lenzner unveils, in part through shrewd thumbnails of everyone from John Dean to Kenneth Starr, is more about character and motive—the arrogant delusions that spawn and sustain malfeasance, and the resentments and idealism that spur informants and whistleblowers. The result is a low-key but absorbing study of the hidden impulses behind corruption and scandal. 16-page b&w insert. Agent: Gail Ross, Ross Yoon Agency.

September 15, 2013
The founder and chairman of Investigative Group International looks back on a professional career filled with glittering names and important cases. Lenzner deplores the hyperpartisan tenor of today's Washington, D.C., where "all that matters is the spin." Fearful, perhaps, that he's become too closely identified in recent years with this unseemly scrum due to his investigative work on behalf of the Clintons, he repeatedly assures readers that he's his own man, interested only in ethically gathering and analyzing facts and dedicated solely to uncovering the truth. Thus, he has monitored anti-war demonstrators on behalf of the Department of Justice and defended peace activist Philip Berrigan; represented the CIA's notorious "Dr. Death," Sid Gottlieb, who administered LSD to unwitting subjects; refused to work for Daniel Ellsberg or under Ted Kennedy's grandiose nephew. Lenzner has investigated the United Way's shady president, William Aramony, the New Republic's notorious plagiarist and fabulist, Stephen Glass, and the oil companies who overcharged Alaska for building the pipeline. For pressing his case too forcefully, he's been fired by Donald Rumsfeld from the Office of Economic Opportunity, as well as by Mohamed Al-Fayed, who let him go when he reported no evidence to support the billionaire's bizarre theory that the royal family had murdered son Dodi and Princess Diana. Lenzner's investigations have helped to identify the Unabomber, to recover magician David Copperfield's equipment confiscated in Russia, and to ease racial tensions in Boston's housing projects. The author's best stories emerge from his DOJ work during Freedom Summer and his sleuthing for the Senate Watergate Committee. Mentored by the likes of John Doar, Sam Dash, Robert Morgenthau and Edward Bennett Williams, Lenzner explains how his private practice evolved and how he came to assemble and rely on a cadre of ex-reporters and law enforcement officers to conduct wide-ranging interviews, scour public records and prepare lawsuits based on solid information. A spirited recounting of a highly unusual life in the law.

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October 15, 2013

For over 50 years, PI and lawyer Lenzner investigated everything from Watergate to Princess Di's death. He was a friend of Donald Rumsfeld's and a defender of the Berrigan brothers. His memoir covers a wide range of major news stories, offering his unique perspective and some insider information. Lenzner makes his commitment to finding the truth plain; librarians may find him to be something of a kindred spirit when he writes passionately about gathering information without prejudice. His straight-talking recollection of his work on important cases is leavened with just enough gossip (Nixon was off-putting! Steven Seagal blathered on about judo!) to draw in even the most apolitical reader. Watergate gets the most complete treatment, and readers may be left wishing he had been as thorough in other areas, but they will likely forgive him. Lenzner spent his career bouncing around Washington, DC, taking jobs that interested him, but his distaste for the corrupting influence of money, particularly in campaign finance, threads through several of his stories, as does his commitment to unbiased research and fact-finding. VERDICT Lenzner's insider take will appeal to political junkies and casual news watchers alike. This one will circulate.--Kate Sheehan, Waterbury, CT

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2013
At one point, lawyer Lenzner was called one of the most powerful and dreaded private investigators in the world. His famous clients have included politicians and celebrities, governments and corporations. He investigated the now infamous murder of three civil rights workers in the American South at the height of the civil rights era. He subpoenaed Richard Nixon when he was assistant chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee. He worked with Bill Clinton's defense team during the presidential impeachment hearings. At the request of Dodi Fayed's father, Lenzner investigated the circumstances surrounding the car-crash death of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed. And he conducted opposition research on Mitt Romney. Yet what strikes the reader is how insightful Lenzer is, and how humble he seems. Long, boring days convalescing from a childhood illness, he notes, became a defining moment in his life and helped shape his choice of career. He lists the qualities that make a good investigator, such as curiosity, persistence, intuition, and imagination. A compelling memoir about a fascinating life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)