In Deep: The FBI, the CIA, and the Truth about America's "Deep State"

by David Rohde

Overview

Revised and updated

"One of today’s most respected journalists, David Rohde takes on one of the country’s most toxic conspiracy theories," presenting a "scrupulously reported and even-handed" account of how power and intelligence are exploited in Washington that “goes deep indeed inside America’s security state, telling a story that will surprise readers of all political persuasions” (Jane Mayer, author of Dark Money).

Donald Trump blamed his 2020 defeat on Democrats and the “deep state”—a supposed secret cabal of Washington insiders that relentlessly encroaches on the individual rights of Americans—for stealing the election and undermining his presidency. Most Americans who supported him agreed. Americans on the left increasingly fear the “military-industrial complex,” a faction of generals and defense contractors who they believe routinely push the country into endless wars. But does the American “deep state” really exist?

This question is fundamental to preserving the legitimacy of American democracy, as frustration with and distrust for the government continue to grow. In Deep seeks to dispel these pernicious myths through an examination of the FBI, CIA, and Justice Department scandals of the past fifty years from the Church Committee’s exposure of Cold War abuses to the claims and counterclaims of the Trump era and the relentless spread of conspiracy theories online and on air. It exposes the misconduct of Attorney General William Barr; how distrust of the “deep state” undermined the US government response to the COVID-19 pandemic; and the growing discord sowed by the explosion of false information online. It investigates Trump’s quest to discredit government experts, the legislative and judicial branches, and the results of the 2020 election and assume authoritarian power for himself. “The idea of the deep state, Rohde writes, is inextricably linked to a particular view of presidential power” (Dina Temple-Raston, Washington Post).

Based on dozens of interviews with career CIA operatives and FBI agents, “In Deep is a wholly satisfying read and a necessary one for anyone wanting to understand the forces at play in our government today” (Andrea Bernstein, Peabody Award–winning cohost of the Trump, Inc. podcast and author of American Oligarchs).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393867602
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	05/25/2021
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	510,699
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

David Rohde is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the author of In Deep and three other books. He is the national security editor at NBC News and a former executive editor of The New Yorker website, where he wrote about the Justice Department, democracy, and disinformation. He is also a former New York Times, Reuters, and Christian Science Monitor reporter. He lives in New York with his family.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Wilistleblowers xi

Part I Presidential Power from Ford to Obama

1 The Church Committee 3

2 Ford, Cheney, and Rumsfeld 12

3 Carter Strengthens Oversight 23

4 Reagan, Meese, and Iran-Contra 36

5 Bush, Barr, and the Power of the Presidency 57

6 Clinton, Reno, and Impeachment 71

7 George W. Bush, 9/11, and the Return of the Imperial Presidency 90

8 Obama, Snowden, and Drones 112

Part II Presidential Power in the Trump Era

9 The 2016 Campaign 135

10 The President-Elect and the "Deep State" 155

11 The Transfer of Power 172

12 Loyalty 177

13 Obstructing the Mueller Investigation 187

14 The Collapse of Congressional Oversight 193

15 The Disinformation Presidency 203

16 The Loudest Voice 212

17 Trump, Barr, and the Gutting of Congressional Power 220

18 Checks and Balances 239

19 Impeachment 250

20 Deadlock 259

21 The Virus 266

Epilogue: The "Deep State" 287

Acknowledgments 297

Notes 301

Index 329

Editorial Reviews

"One of today’s most respected journalists, David Rohde takes on one of the country’s most toxic conspiracy theories—the claim that a secret cabal of insiders in Washington is thwarting the Trump presidency. Scrupulously reported and even-handed, In Deep goes deep indeed inside America’s security state, telling a story that will surprise readers of all political persuasions."

Jane Mayer

"David Rohde, one of the best investigative reporters of his generation, brings together revelatory history and original analysis to the central drama of the Trump presidency. What I admire most is his fair mindedness about pressing and controversial issues that have caused many others to lose their heads."

George Packer

★ 04/06/2020

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.)

Publishers Weekly

"A smart and terrific history of the suspicion between presidents and the governments they preside over, leading to the furious climax we see now with Trump."

Peter Baker

"Compelling and timely.... The issues raised by In Deep are particularly urgent."

Christian Science Monitor - Barbara Spindel

"In Deep is a compassionate critique of the simmering grievance that has now found its way to the White House, where it threatens to upend the tenets of American democracy: truth, justice, and, above all, the rule of law. Reported in stunning and tenacious detail, In Deep is a wholly satisfying read—and a necessary one for anyone wanting to understand the forces at play in our government today."

Andrea Bernstein

"Fascinating.... The idea of the deep state, Rohde writes, is inextricably linked to a particular view of presidential power.... After reading In Deep, one can’t help wondering how much Trump’s suspicion of and disdain for expertise and experience (and the so-called ‘policy elite’) has affected his response to the coronavirus. The sad policy question is: How many lives have been lost because of his belief in the deep state?"

Dina Temple-Raston

"Rohde skilfully makes clear that it is precisely by pedalling the myth of the Deep State that the President has been able to undermine efforts at oversight."

Times Literary Supplement - Lawrence Douglas

"Informative, instructive, tough-minded and timely."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Glenn C. Altschuler

"David Rohde has written a remarkable book that is both urgent reporting and sweeping history. He brings the same vitality and precision that animated his storied reporting on war zones to this portrait of the decades-long battle over the powers of the intelligence community, and the erosion—under recent administrations of both parties—of rules put in place to protect American citizens’ rights. And he brings fresh insight to the phrase ‘deep state,’ and the role it may play in the future of American politics."

Ronan Farrow

06/05/2020

Although the term deep state was coined recently, the concept of career bureaucrats, technocrats, and intelligence agents working to thwart the efforts of a sitting U.S. president and administration is not new according to investigative journalist Rohde (Beyond War). The author examines events of the past eight administrations to determine if the concept is accurate or a method for administrations to avoid openness and truthfulness regarding their activities. Rohde describes how Congress created the bipartisan Church Commission following Richard Nixon's resignation to investigate abuses by the CIA, FBI, and IRS. He then identifies how later administrations felt impeded by the guidelines; for example, the Iran-Contra affair during the Ronald Reagan administration and the promise of "weapons of mass destruction" that led to the Iraq War. The final section discusses the distrust and denigration of the intelligence community by the Trump administration. The author interviewed officials at all levels in a number of agencies, and shows how career diplomats have suffered a loss of morale. He concludes that the suspicion of a deep state is unfounded but that bias, "turf consciousness," and comfort with the status quo can work against change and oversight. VERDICT Readers seeking to know the origins of the deep state and how the concept evolved will be enlightened by Rohde's compelling study.—Jill Ortner, SUNY Buffalo Libs.

Library Journal

★ 2020-03-19
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.

Kirkus Reviews