Ever since Bob Woodward became an icon of investigative journalism with “All the President’s Men” ( and was able to have himself portrayed by Robert Redford in the movie), he has periodically issued another “inside information” hit job on other administrations and institutions, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, for the first time close enough to a tight election to be legitimately be called election interference, the ancient ex-Washington Post reporter has produced “War,” and D.C. is “buzzing.” Woodward’s book was advanced to The New York Times and other news outlets on yesterday, though the book won’t be released until next week. Sayeth the Times, it “adds additional, inside-the-room details to… previous accounts,” previously unreported conversations and more involving President Biden, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris and other officials.

The entire exercise is, like the others, unethical, despicable and corrosive to the functioning of government and a detrimental to collegial trust. In the legal ethics rules, inducing another lawyer to violate professional ethics standards is itself an ethics violation. Journalists have no such rules, but then, journalists no longer have ethics.

“War,” like all of Woodward’s books, uses material that it was either unethical (and often illegal) for the sources to reveal, or lies, gossip, rumors and worse spread by disgruntled employees or bad actors with personal or partisan agendas. Woodward, meanwhile, makes money off of the dubious or unethical disclosures. He claims that he has verified the tales he puts in his books, but who verifies Woodward? I don’t trust him; nobody should. Yet the Times, Post and other sources describe the book’s tales out of school as facts, because he says they are. Everything is attributed to “anonymous sources.”

Here is an example that the Axis is already running with as “fact”: From the Times—“The book by the journalist Bob Woodward cited an unnamed aide saying that the former president [Trump] and current Republican nominee had spoken with Mr. Putin as many as seven times since leaving office in 2021, even as Mr. Trump was pressuring Republicans to block military aid to Ukraine to fight Russian invaders. The book also said that Mr. Trump, while still in office in 2020, sent Covid-19 testing equipment to Mr. Putin early in the pandemic for his personal use.”

At least the Times admits that nobody can verify that account, but never mind; Kamala Harris, in her inexcusable interview with Howard Stern (who, to his credit, resisted asking how often she masturbated and what was her favorite sex position, his typical queries), joined Stern in condemning Trump for the alleged calls, evoking yet again “Russian collusion.” (Harris and Stern also said that Trump recommended “injecting bleach” into one’s “blood.” This was an outright falsehood launched by President Biden—Did you know Donald Trump lies all the time, unlike Harris and Biden?)

“War” isn’t news, it isn’t history, it isn’t responsible, and it isn’t ethical. Presidents, politicians, indeed all of us have the right of privacy and should be able to trust our employees, colleagues and friends not to take what we said to them under the assumption that it was a private conversation and repeat it, spin, it distort it or otherwise use it to our detriment. Bob Woodward has corrupted his profession (sure, he has had lost of help) and our workplace, governmental and societal ethics. He is an ethics corrupter.

Don’t buy his book, and don’t trust any source, acquaintance or Facebook Friend who cites “War” as fact. It is, rather, a collection of betrayals.