Booksmith, Berkeley Arts & Letters and the Internet Archive are honored to present an evening with Congressman Adam Schiff to celebrate the paperback launch of the #1 New York Times bestselling Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could. He will be in conversation with attorney, author and advocate Christine Pelosi. Join us!

*** PLEASE NOTE: advanced sales for this event have ended. We will have tickets available for sale at the door. Doors are at 6:45pm PDT. Please note all of the following:

• This is a ticketed, in-person event.
• This is an offsite event, to be held at the Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave. in San Francisco, CA.
• Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including booster, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event and capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing. 
• Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get in is to order a ticket now.
• We are happy to offer *signed copies* of Midnight in Washington: order a Ticket with Book if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy and no admission.
• If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
• Accessibility is important to us. Please write to us with any requests and we will do our best to accommodate you.
• Questions? Write [email protected].

About the book

In the years leading up to the election of Donald Trump, Congressman Adam Schiff had already been sounding the alarm over the resurgence of autocracy around the world, and the threat this posed to the United States. But as he led the probe into Donald Trump’s Russia and Ukraine-related abuses of presidential power, Schiff came to the terrible conclusion that the principal threat to American democracy now came from within.

In Midnight in Washington, Schiff argues that the Trump presidency has so weakened our institutions and compromised the Republican Party that the peril will last for years, requiring unprecedented vigilance against the growing and dangerous appeal of authoritarianism. The congressman chronicles step-by-step just how our democracy was put at such risk, and traces his own path to meeting the crisis—from serious prosecutor, to congressman with an expertise in national security and a reputation for bipartisanship, to liberal lightning rod, scourge of the right, and archenemy of a president. Schiff takes us inside his team of impeachment managers and their desperate defense of the Constitution amid the rise of a distinctly American brand of autocracy.

Deepening our understanding of prominent public moments, Schiff reveals the private struggles, the internal conflicts, and the triumphs of courage that came with defending the republic against a lawless president—but also the slow surrender of people that he had worked with and admired to the dangerous immorality of a president engaged in an historic betrayal of his office. Schiff’s fight for democracy is one of the great dramas of our time, told by the man who became the president’s principal antagonist. It is a story that began with Trump but does not end with him, taking us through the disastrous culmination of the presidency and Schiff’s account of January 6, 2021, and how the antidemocratic forces Trump unleashed continue to define his party, making the future of democracy in America more uncertain than ever.

About the authors

Adam Schiff is the United States Representative for California's 28th Congressional District. In his role as Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Schiff led the first impeachment of Donald J. Trump. Before he served in Congress, he worked as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles and as a California State Senator. He and his wife, Eve, have two children, Alexa and Elijah. Photo by Roger Lis.

Attorney, author, and advocate Christine Pelosi has a lifetime of grassroots organizing and public policy experience. A volunteer in politics since the stroller, Christine holds a JD from the University of California Hastings College of the Law and a BSFS from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Cofounder and Counsel for We Said Enough, Christine has served as a prosecutor in San Francisco, special counsel in the Clinton-Gore administration, and chief of staff on Capitol Hill. Christine is an elected member of the executive committees of the California Democratic Party, the National Federation of Democratic Women, and the Democratic National Committee, where she co-founded the DNC Veterans and Military Families Council. Pelosi is the author of Campaign Boot Camp, Campaign Boot Camp 2.0, and the Amazon bestseller The Nancy Pelosi Way. She has traveled to 41 states and 4 countries conducting “call-to-service” trainings for thousands of leaders. A proud public school mom, Christine resides in San Francisco, California with her husband, Emmy-nominated filmmaker Peter Kaufman, and their daughter Isabella. You can follow her on Twitter: @sfpelosi. 

Please note:

• This is a ticketed, in-person event. Advance sales end today at 2pm PT.
• This is an offsite event, to be held at the Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave. in San Francisco, CA.
• Safety: ID and proof of full vaccination, including booster, will be required at the door. Masks will be required throughout the duration of the event and capacity will be limited to allow indoor distancing. 
• Because we’re limiting capacity, we can't guarantee we'll have space for walk-ins. The best way to ensure you’ll get in is to order a ticket now.
• We are happy to offer *signed copies* of Midnight in Washington: order a Ticket with Book if you'd like to pick up a signed copy at the event, or order here if you just want a signed copy and no admission.
• If we feel it is not safe to gather, as the event gets closer, we will pivot to a virtual event and your registration will remain valid.
• Accessibility is important to us. Please write to us with any requests and we will do our best to accommodate you.
• Questions? Write [email protected].

Photo of the Internet Archive's Great Room used in the background above by Evan Karp