Toxic Government: Exposing the Flint Water Crisis Cover Up and the Poisoning of 100,000 People

As the ongoing Flint water crisis marks its tenth anniversary, Chariton reveals shocking new evidence of the major government cover-up that resulted in the poisoning of Flint--and shatters what you think you know about what caused the water crisis.

From crooked Wall Street financial schemes to political payoffs, destruction of evidence, witness tampering, falsified water data, threatened whistle blowers, and panicked phone calls, We the Poisoned: Exposing the Flint Water Crisis Cover Up and the Poisoning of 100,000 Americans reveals, for the first time, the real story behind how the government poisoned a major American city--and how they are still getting away with it.

As the cover-up continues a decade later, innocent residents have been arrested, surveilled, threatened, and gaslit to feel like they are crazy. With more and more sick residents slowly dying every year, Flint’s lead levels again on the rise, and cancer rates surging across the city, it is time for the true, sinister story of the Flint water cover-up to be told. Based on eight years of reporting, thousands of confidential documents from the criminal investigation, and the former governor of Michigan’s own words under oath, Jordan Chariton takes readers on the road to crisis before the Flint River switch--when government officials blew through all stop signs and orchestrated a financial scheme that allowed a nearly bankrupt Flint to borrow ＄100 million for a controversial new water system. As brown, smelly water flowed through Flint homes and residents grew sick, politicians intentionally and knowingly allowed Americans to drink poison as they prioritized their own political ambitions and survival. Just when you think the levels of callousness and disregard for the people can’t drop any lower, Chariton digs even deeper to expose one of the biggest government cover-ups of the twenty-first century.

We the Poisoned is a cautionary tale about ＂run-government-like-a-business＂ leaders who champion privatization and economic development at the expense of the environment, public health, and vulnerable citizens. Perhaps even more important, with water and environmental contamination surging across the US, Chariton’s revelations provide a road map for how to fight back and prevent similar tragedies from happening to other communities.

Jordan Chariton is an independent investigative reporter known for reporting on-the-ground across America on significant stories that often fall through the cracks. Chariton has made 20 reporting trips to Flint since 2016 investigating the water crisis and cover up; he also covered the indigenous-led protests at Standing Rock in North Dakota against the Dakota Access Pipeline, the United Auto Workers strike across the Midwest, the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, and has reported across the US on union drives, poverty, homelessness, and protest movements. He is the CEO and lead reporter for Status Coup News, an independent news outlet. His work has been featured in The Guardian, VICE News, The Intercept, CNBC, The Hill, and more. He lives with his wife and daughter in the New York area.