The FBI; Inside The World's Most Powerful Law Enforcement Agency--by the Award-Winning Journalist Whose Investigation Brought Down FBI Director William S. Sessions
New York: Pocket Books, 1993. First Pocket Books Hardcover Edition [stated]. Hardcover. 25 cm. xxiii, [2] 492 pages. Illustrations. Notes. Selected Bibliography. Significant Dates. Glossary. Index. Ronald Borek Kessler (born December 31, 1943) is an American journalist and author of 21 non-fiction books about the White House, U.S. Secret Service, FBI, and CIA. Seven of his books have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list. From 1970 to 1985, Kessler was an investigative reporter for The Washington Post. In 1972, he won a George Polk Memorial award for Community Service because of two series of articles he wrote—one on conflicts of interest and mismanagement at Washington area non-profit hospitals, and a second series exposing kickbacks in connection with real estate settlements, inflating the cost of buying homes. That Kessler series resulted in passage in 1974 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), which outlaws kickbacks for referral of settlement services in connection with real estate closings. In 1979, Kessler won a second Polk Award for National Reporting for a series of articles exposing corruption in the General Services Administration. Kessler's book, The FBI: Inside the World's Most Powerful Law Enforcement Agency, led to the dismissal by President Clinton of Sessions as FBI director over his abuses. According to The Washington Post, "A Justice Department official ... noted that the original charges against Sessions came not from FBI agents but from a journalist, Ronald Kessler. The New York Times said Kessler's FBI book "did indeed trigger bureau and Justice Department investigations into alleged travel and expense abuses. More