Today we discuss Bob Woodward's new book and the status of investigative journalism in the United States

should Woodward have held on to the tapes for months before revealing it as part of an effort to sell

his book or did he owe it to the American public

to disclose the tapes as soon as he made them.

Hi, I'm Alan Dershowitz and this is the Dersh show.

Today we'll be talking about Bob Woodward's new book Rage, which is hitting the

shelves and will become a mega mega mega bestseller. He spent hours and hours talking to

President Trump. Many people are asking why did President Trump sit down with him.

Everybody knows what Woodward's general slant is. He's written so many books and so many of them critical of the people he interviewed and so many

questions arise from Bob Woodward's interview and from the publication of his book.

I think the hardest question for journalists

and investigative journalists

is the question of timing.

He had these interviews with the president many months ago and there was some,

according at least to him, bombshell disclosures about the coronavirus and

other issues and yet Woodward held on to those interviews and kept them secret until he began

to market his book. Was it fair to the American people to withhold this information for months in an effort to maximize his sales?

Woodward, after all, sells millions of copies for anything he writes and has earned millions and millions of dollars

because he has so much credibility as a journalist.

He is publishing along with the book excerpts from the interviews themselves so that people can judge whether he has accurately portrayed his interviews with the president.

I'm sure the president will be tweeting more about it.

He's already tweeted, criticism of the withholding of the information pending the publication of the book.

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