In deep The FBI, the CIA, and the truth about America's "deep state"

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Pulitzer Prize--winner Rohde (Beyond War) delivers an illuminating history of the often tense relationship between U.S. presidents and the career civil servants who enact--or, by some accounts, thwart--their policies. Starting with the Church committee's 1976 report documenting "decades of illegal FBI and CIA spying on American citizens," Rohde delves into every presidential administration from Gerald Ford through Barack Obama, sketching the Iran-Contra affair, illegal Chinese donations to the 1996 Clinton-Gore campaign, and the post-9/11 Patriot Act. The book's second half focuses on developments during the Trump era: the Hillary Clinton email investigation, Russian interference in the 2016 election, and the impeachment inquiry and trial. Concluding that there is no "widespread, politically motivated 'coup' " to remove Trump from office, Rohde argues that "the rising call for a more powerful presidency"--voiced most loudly by conservative figures including attorney general William Barr--threatens proper oversight of the FBI and the CIA by throwing the balance of power between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches out of whack. Rohde weaves impeccable research, including interviews with current and former White House and law enforcement officials, into a cohesive and revelatory narrative. Political junkies and generalists alike will relish this deeply informed account. (Apr.)

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Review by Library Journal Review

Trump supporters blame rogue elements of the FBI and CIA for fomenting the idea of a Russian intervention in the 2016 election, progressives blame the military-industrial complex for our relentless wars, and in general 74 percent of Americans believe that a deep state of unelected military and government officials run everything. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Rohde interviews FBI agents, covert CIA operatives, and more to see if he can find out the truth.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

A two-time Pulitzer Prize--winning journalist attempts "to answer the question of whether a 'deep state' exists in America." Rodhe, an executive editor of the New Yorker website, examines where the conspiratorial term originated and how the Trump administration has consistently undermined checks-and-balances efforts in order to create its own "parallel, shadow government." The term, coined by Peter Dale Scott in The Road to 9/11 (2007) to designate nefarious plans by foreign authoritative governments, was appropriated by Trump and associates to mean underhanded attempts by a "policy elite" (primarily the State Department, FBI, and CIA) to sabotage and delegitimize his election and government. Is there really a deep state, or is it an effort by the Trump administration to spread disinformation and distrust of government, a tactic that has been effective in shoring up his conservative base? Rohde agrees that Americans are justified in distrusting the government during periods of scandal and outrageous misconduct, and the author systematically walks through those cases, chronicling violations of citizens' privacy, from the Cold War to Watergate to trumped-up evidence for Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction. On one hand, Rohde continually returns to the success of the Church Committee's (1975) unprecedented bipartisan efforts to expose early governmental abuses and suggest recommendations that, over time, created new congressional intelligence committees to monitor and check the CIA and other agencies. On the other hand, the author reveals how the "imperial presidency," thwarted during the Nixon administration, has steadily creeped back in place thanks to work by Attorney General William Barr and others, causing a veritable "collapse of Congressional oversight" that found its apotheosis in the impeachment and acquittal of Trump. Throughout his immaculately researched work, Rohde inserts the career stories of "good civil servants," including many of the officials who testified in the impeachment hearings. As this revelatory book shows, the deep state, which now incorporates such nonelected loyalists as Rudy Giuliani, Sean Hannity, and Barr, has become the government itself. A vital investigation for this election year--and far beyond. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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