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Raven 23: How the Department of Justice Betrayed American Heroes – A True Crime Exposé of Prosecutorial Misconduct and Government Cover-Up
The shocking story of how the American government charged brave veterans with phony war crimes to placate foreign autocrats.
Gina Keating is proud of being a liberal and a journalist. She always has been. So when Keating first looked into the Raven 23 case, she expected to find the government doing its job, giving its war fighters a fair trial. Instead, she found that Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, and Barack Obama had rammed four Americans’ convictions through the courts. It would take Donald Trump’s eleventh-hour pardon to correct this terrible miscarriage of justice. These discoveries, and her subsequent investigation, would flip Gina’s world upside down.
The events in Nisour Square, Baghdad, constituted one of the most tragic events of the Iraq War. Blackwater employees Dustin Heard, Paul Slough, Nick Slatten, and Evan Liberty fired “unprovoked” into a crowd of civilians. At least, that’s how the official story went. But that story was a lie. In fact, the former servicemen had been fired on by insurgents and had engaged according to the rules of war—a reality that the US government would spend the next decade suppressing as DOJ wasted countless taxpayer dollars prosecuting innocent men.
Raven 23 charts the story of the government’s battle against justice, which spanned a decade, three trials, and numerous twists and turns. Full of shocking revelations of prosecutorial misconduct and depravity at the highest levels, Raven 23 is a must-read exposé of how the justice system was weaponized against men who risked their lives to keep their country safe.
Gina Keating is proud of being a liberal and a journalist. She always has been. So when Keating first looked into the Raven 23 case, she expected to find the government doing its job, giving its war fighters a fair trial. Instead, she found that Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, and Barack Obama had rammed four Americans’ convictions through the courts. It would take Donald Trump’s eleventh-hour pardon to correct this terrible miscarriage of justice. These discoveries, and her subsequent investigation, would flip Gina’s world upside down.
The events in Nisour Square, Baghdad, constituted one of the most tragic events of the Iraq War. Blackwater employees Dustin Heard, Paul Slough, Nick Slatten, and Evan Liberty fired “unprovoked” into a crowd of civilians. At least, that’s how the official story went. But that story was a lie. In fact, the former servicemen had been fired on by insurgents and had engaged according to the rules of war—a reality that the US government would spend the next decade suppressing as DOJ wasted countless taxpayer dollars prosecuting innocent men.
Raven 23 charts the story of the government’s battle against justice, which spanned a decade, three trials, and numerous twists and turns. Full of shocking revelations of prosecutorial misconduct and depravity at the highest levels, Raven 23 is a must-read exposé of how the justice system was weaponized against men who risked their lives to keep their country safe.
280 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 12, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 6, 2025
A compelling, disheartening read that I mostly believe, but it was also not objectively reported, regardless of political affiliation. And maybe she didn't intend to publish an objective story with whatever journalistic integrity means today, because she was very clearly deeply invested. This falls into the same category as Fox News or CNBC by presenting one side, and using inflammatory language depicting the other. Plus it is her journey, not theirs.
As I get old, and sometimes I need to face facts that I am old, I am skeptical of everything. Everyone lies, everyone hides things, and everyone has an agenda. The story of the four men involved in this nightmare is harrowing and deeply disturbing, and I'm disgusted over their treatment and disposability (which is exactly what war is) but I firmly believe in the three sides to every story idea -- this side, that side, and the truth.
So I definitely recommend this book to those interested in political military history, not even just military history, since it was so rooted in the politics of war over multiple administrations. And I definitely recommend it to any leftists open minded enough to imagine that people you voted for made hard decisions and sacrificed a whole lot of average folks for their big picture, or because they themselves were actually horrible people. (Can anyone in politics be wholly decent? I think not.) And for people sick to f'ing death of judicial malfeasance (everyone?) and the abject horror that is the reality of some individuals in the Judicial Branch. This will piss you off, this will hurt your heart, this will make you question everyone. Which we should do.
As I get old, and sometimes I need to face facts that I am old, I am skeptical of everything. Everyone lies, everyone hides things, and everyone has an agenda. The story of the four men involved in this nightmare is harrowing and deeply disturbing, and I'm disgusted over their treatment and disposability (which is exactly what war is) but I firmly believe in the three sides to every story idea -- this side, that side, and the truth.
So I definitely recommend this book to those interested in political military history, not even just military history, since it was so rooted in the politics of war over multiple administrations. And I definitely recommend it to any leftists open minded enough to imagine that people you voted for made hard decisions and sacrificed a whole lot of average folks for their big picture, or because they themselves were actually horrible people. (Can anyone in politics be wholly decent? I think not.) And for people sick to f'ing death of judicial malfeasance (everyone?) and the abject horror that is the reality of some individuals in the Judicial Branch. This will piss you off, this will hurt your heart, this will make you question everyone. Which we should do.
October 5, 2025
everyone should read this
Our courts are out of control. For all practical purposes there are no checks or balances for rogue judges that don’t care if they are violating the law or not. Prosecutors have gradually shifted from seeking justice and public safety to us against them and win no matter the cost, or how obscene an injustice they may have to commit to do it. Holding people in jail for ever by constantly shifting charges. Deliberately tormenting the “innocent until proven guilty” to force them to take plea deals because they don’t have enough evidence to get even remotely close to proving guilty. And in many cases public defenders that are flat out working for the prosecution. This all sounds good getting dangerous offenders off the street, until your the offender whose only crime is not having enough money to hire someone that will actually make an effort to defend you. At least one in ten people in prisons right now are innocent of what they pled to, because the system only works as intended for the wealthy. And prosecutors don’t give a rats behind about anything but winning. Our system is beyond broken, YOU could be next.
Our courts are out of control. For all practical purposes there are no checks or balances for rogue judges that don’t care if they are violating the law or not. Prosecutors have gradually shifted from seeking justice and public safety to us against them and win no matter the cost, or how obscene an injustice they may have to commit to do it. Holding people in jail for ever by constantly shifting charges. Deliberately tormenting the “innocent until proven guilty” to force them to take plea deals because they don’t have enough evidence to get even remotely close to proving guilty. And in many cases public defenders that are flat out working for the prosecution. This all sounds good getting dangerous offenders off the street, until your the offender whose only crime is not having enough money to hire someone that will actually make an effort to defend you. At least one in ten people in prisons right now are innocent of what they pled to, because the system only works as intended for the wealthy. And prosecutors don’t give a rats behind about anything but winning. Our system is beyond broken, YOU could be next.
December 1, 2025
Good read showing the corruption of the US government to push an agenda. I’m thankful for Gina and the work she did to push for these men’s pardons.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews