(New York) Michael Wolff’s method is not to be confused with that of Bob Woodward. Both journalists have published several best-sellers on Donald Trump, but the first sometimes fantasizes by describing what happens behind the scenes at the White House, while the other always relies on testimonies or documents.
Nevertheless: according to his publisher, Michael Wolff has sold more than 5 million copies of his book on Donald Trump’s first months as president, fire and fury. The author said he had almost full access to the White House, courtesy of former presidential adviser Steve Bannon, to write this work where the 45e President is portrayed as an irascible idiot whom none of his senior aides consider fit for his position.
This was not the first time that Michael Wolff turned against a subject that had given him unprecedented access. Rupert Murdoch, former CEO of News Corporation, gave more than 50 hours of interviews to the New York journalist before the publication in 2008 of another of his bestsellers, entitled The Man Who Owns the News.
However, this book contained “extremely damaging inaccuracies”, Murdoch fumed after reading a copy.
The Wolff method
How does Michael Wolff manage to intrude into the circle of intimates, the rich and famous, including Jeffrey Epstein, a relationship which these days has earned him strong criticism as a journalist?
When leaving Too Famousone of his most recent books, the person explained to New York Times that he manages to gain the trust of his subjects by convincing them that he dreams of being able to live their lives, “what they enjoy”.
Which is true. Michael Wolff went into business in the 1990s. He lost everything in the dot-com bubble except his ambition to live the life of the rich and famous.
But the Jeffrey Epstein emails released last week by the House of Representatives lift the veil on another aspect of the Wolff method.
Before going any further, a detail: the name of Michael Wolff appears 213 times in these documents, according to the Courier site review (compared to more than 1,500 times for Donald Trump). In several emails, the author of fire and fury displays a dubious complacency towards the man who had already pleaded guilty to having solicited the services of an underage prostitute.
But in December 2015, he crossed a red line on a journalistic level.
The outline of a portrait
“If we could craft a response for (Trump), what do you think it should be? asks Jeffrey Epstein to Michael Wolff after being informed by the latter that CNN will ask Donald Trump a question about his relationship with the sex offender during a debate.
Rather than reminding Jeffrey Epstein that his status as a journalist does not allow him to serve as his advisor, Michael Wolff replied: “I think you should let him hang himself. If he says he wasn’t on the plane or at home, then you have a PR and political advantage. You can expose him in a way that brings you a potential advantage, or, if he really looks like he could win, you can save him. He will then be indebted to you. »
PHOTO ARCHIVES REUTERS
Jeffrey Epstein, in 2017
On Monday, the editor-in-chief of the Semafor site, Ben Smith, revealed another breach of journalistic ethics committed by Michael Wolff. In 2014, the latter sent Jeffrey Epstein the draft of a portrait which was to be used to restore his image tarnished by his status as a sex offender.
The portrait, which is not signed, is among the thousands of documents published by the Chamber.
In the style of Truman Capote
Michael Wolff admitted to Ben Smith that he had sent the text to Jeffrey Epstein to convince him to allow him to interview his friends, and in particular Bill Gates. Wolff then entered Epstein’s New York residence, where “confident young women” mingled with the master’s powerful guests, “not as hostesses – or, in tabloid parlance, as harem-like ‘sex slaves’ – but rather as attentive students,” he wrote in the portrait.
Caught in the act of cronyism with a pedophile, Michael Wolff defends himself today by asserting that he is not a journalist, but a writer in the style of Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson.
“There are writers who seek to be as close to the experience as possible,” he said Monday in a podcast he co-hosts. Only they are able to tell the story of a “monster” like Jeffrey Epstein, according to him.
In his draft portrait, Michael Wolff sought to understand how “a man without clear institutional references nevertheless managed to acquire such wealth and influence”.
Despite his breaches of journalistic ethics, he has not succeeded in unraveling this mystery. Could the publication of the Esptein files help to change the situation?
Question from a reader
“How can we explain that a social message as generous as that of free education or free health care does not receive delirious popular support in the United States? », asks Gilles Perreault.
Answer: All American children can access free education from kindergarten through high school. But the idea of a universal health care system managed by the government, for example, is still rejected by a majority of Americans, for various philosophical, fiscal or medical reasons. Not to mention the powerful lobbies who have the means to fight any reform in this direction.
