James B. Stewart, author of the new book “Tangled Webs: How False Statements are Undermining America from Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff,” says that perjury is “threatening to become an epidemic” in American society. Stewart has delved into Freedom of Information Act requests, interview transcripts, investigative notes, secret letters, court documents, and hundreds of emails to give an in-depth look at recent high-profile cases of lying. With a look into the trials of Martha Stewart, Scooter Libby, Bernie Madoff, and Barry Bonds, Stewart makes the argument that the practice of lying under oath has breached the highest levels of American society, threatening to unsettle the foundations of our legal system.
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