In the early 1970s, at an exclusive Manhattan nightclub called Le Club, a brash young real-estate developer approached a well-known lawyer with a problem. The developer, Donald Trump, was facing a federal lawsuit accusing his family’s company of discriminatory housing practices. The lawyer, Roy Cohn, already had a fearsome reputation in legal and political circles. Trump asked Cohn what he should do.
This investigative narrative traces how the threads of history connect Senator McCarthy, Roy Cohn, and Donald Trump — a chain of influence that links the anti-Communist witch hunts of the 1950s to the political style of the 45th President. It’s a story of power and paranoia, of loyalty and betrayal, and of tactics that resurface across generations.
