“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?

About the author

Honig provides on-air commentary and analysis for CNN on news relating to the U. S. Department of Justice, major criminal trials, the Supreme Court, Congressional and grand jury investigations, national security, policing, and other legal issues. In 2022, Honig was nominated for an Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in the category “Outstanding News Analysis: Editorial & Opinion.”

Honig is the national bestselling author of two prior books published by HarperCollins: “Hatchet Man: How Bill Barr Broke the Prosecutor’s Code and Corrupted the Justice Department” (2021) and “Untouchable: How Powerful People Get Away With It” (2023). His third book, “When You Come at the King: Inside DOJ’s Pursuit of the President, from Nixon to Trump,” publishes in September 2025.

Honig writes a weekly column on legal news for New York magazine and CAFE. He hosts the popular true-crime podcast, “Up Against the Mob,” and a weekly legal podcast, “The Counsel,” both productions of Vox Media. Honig graduated from Rutgers College (where he now teaches) in 1997, and Harvard Law School in 2000.