I'm among those who think this author's anonymity dangerously threatens the book's credibility (as well as what they can share, given that the relation of specific events could reveal their identity). Unless they confess to crimes in the book, I don't get the need for anonymity.
1/ Different publishers have different factchecking policies. Hachette owes readers a forward in which it describes how the allegations in the book were confirmed, given that the reader has *no access* to the author's identity to judge their ability to view what they've related.
2/ If this person is still working in the administration, I'd say it severely degrades their credibility and any claim of integrity. Note also that advances are merely advances against royalties, so if this author keeps a good chunk of their royalties, they *will* get very rich.
