The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump

by Andrew G. McCabe

On March 16, 2018, just twenty-six hours before his scheduled retirement from the organization he had served with distinction for more than two decades, Andrew G. McCabe was fired from his position as deputy director of the FBI. President Donald Trump celebrated on Twitter: "Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy."

In The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump, Andrew G. McCabe offers a dramatic and candid account of his career, and an impassioned defense of the FBI's agents, and of the institution's integrity and independence in protecting America and upholding our Constitution.

McCabe started as a street agent in the FBI's New York field office, serving under director Louis Freeh. He became an expert in two kinds of investigations that are critical to American national security: Russian organized crime—which is inextricably linked to the Russian state—and terrorism. Under Director Robert Mueller, McCabe led the investigations of major attacks on American soil, including the Boston Marathon bombing, a plot to bomb the New York subways, and several narrowly averted bombings of aircraft. And under James Comey, McCabe was deeply involved in the controversial investigations of the Benghazi attack, the Clinton Foundation's activities, and Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server when she was secretary of state.

The Threat recounts in compelling detail the time between Donald Trump's November 2016 election and McCabe's firing, set against a page-turning narrative spanning two decades when the FBI's mission shifted to a new goal: preventing terrorist attacks on Americans. But as McCabe shows, right now the greatest threat to the United States comes from within, as President Trump and his administration ignore the law, attack democratic institutions, degrade human rights, and undermine the U.S. Constitution that protects every citizen.

Important, revealing, and powerfully argued, The Threat tells the true story of what the FBI is, how it works, and why it will endure as an institution of integrity that protects America.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Memoir, Biography, Audiobook, True Crime

282 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 19, 2019

About the author

Andrew G. McCabe served as deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation from February 2016 to January 2018.

He began his career at the FBI in 1996, working first as a street agent on the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, and eventually as its supervisor. Later, he led the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, the National Security Branch, and the Washington Field Office, and was the first director of the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, which developed new methods for lawfully and effectively questioning suspected terrorists.

He lives in Virginia with his wife Jill, their two children and a dog.

Reviews

[Eric Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book, mostly, because I felt sorry for McCabe being fired 26 hours before he was eligible to receive his full retirement benefits in a malicious, and spiteful attack by Donald Trump, and wanted to pitch in the cover price of the book to help him out. I make no secret of the fact that I absolutely despise Trump and wish many horrible things that it is currently illegal to voice aloud to befall him. But I don't go out and read every book that comes out about him. I don't need a book to tell me what a horrible excuse for a human being he is. All I have to do is sit down and turn on the news, or open my laptop and I get blasted with whatever horrible thing he said or did today until my eyes bleed. The exceptions have been James Comey's book A Higher Loyalty, which I bought for the same reason I bought this one, and Bob Woodward's Fear: Trump in the Whitehouse, because I am something of a Woodward fan, and I was curious to see his take on Trump. What I wasn't expecting was for this book to be good. Like, actually, genuinely good.

McCabe is a competent writer, though I understand he had the help of a writing team for this book to polish it up for him. But it's not really the writing that makes the book good, more the way he goes about telling his story. He gives a very in-depth look at how the FBI operates, and how they go about investigations that I found to be pretty fascinating. The majority of the book is about McCabe's career, first in going after Russian organized crime in the USA and then in counterterrorism after 9/11. He lays out exactly how the FBI finds and investigates terrorists and to me, at least, it was extremely interesting. He also has a pretty good sense of humor. I mean, he's not cracking jokes while talking about hunting down terrorists or FBI procedure, but he puts just the right amount of sarcasm, gallows humor, and wisecracks in to bring some much-needed levity to the things he's describing.

As you can imagine, the last quarter of the book or so is epically damning of Donald Trump. But, really, can you blame him after what Trump did to him? I'd be out for blood were I in his position. Someone would bleed for that. But at the same time, he puts his dislike of Trump in the context of investigating him, and his campaign, taking a look at everything that happened between them through the eyes of an investigator. Though the last few paragraphs are a pretty harsh and personal condemnation of Trump.

If you're at all interested in how the FBI operates, as told by a man who spent over 20 years as an FBI agent, you'll probably really enjoy this book. Just be aware that it does get political at the end. If you're not so much into that sort of thing, you may want to skip this one, or stop reading when he gets to Trump.

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember this old joke? “How boring is Al Gore? Al Gore is so boring that his Secret Service code name is ‘Al Gore’.” Well, Andrew McCabe is so boring that his code name requires a middle initial. Andrew McCabe’s code name must be “Andrew G. McCabe.”

Perhaps I’m not being fair. I learned valuable things from McCabe’s book, and enjoyed much of it too (particularly the parts about Mueller, Comey, and Trump). McCabe is a lucid, no-nonsense human being who writes lucid, no-nonsense prose, and his book has convinced me that he is also an essentially honest and reliable person, a man whom I am grateful fate or chance put in charge of one of our country’s vital institutions at a perilous and difficult time.

And yet . . .

Perhaps the most boring parts of this book are the parts that are supposed to be exciting. McCabe, who was on hand for some crucial counter-espionage moments—the interrogation of the “underwear bomber,” the pursuit of the Boston marathon bombers, “Operation Overt” (the aftermath of the attack in the London Underground), to name a few—likes to begin his accounts of such events with clipped, take-charge, declarative utterances, ludicrously laconic sentences that seem torn from the pages of a paperback spy thriller. Take this passage, for example: “I picked up the phone. The Director’s hair was on fire. I asked, ‘When do you need me in L.A.?’ He said, ‘Yesterday.’” (OK. I admit it. I wrote this passage myself. But you get the idea.)

The second most boring parts of the book can occasionally be his accounts of FBI procedure. McCabe is a by-the-book sort of guy, and sometimes he includes a bit more of that “book” than this desultory reader would have liked.

But not always. Sometimes he’s right on the money, like when he details the differences in the Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG) between an assessment, a preliminary investigation, and a full investigation, and specifies the “tools” available to an agent at each particular stage. (My understanding of the FBI’s conduct in both the Clinton Email and the Trump Russia investigations is now enriched by what McCabe has told me.)

Now that I’m on the subject of things McCabe does well, I must admit that his passion for procedure and thoroughness—all admirable qualities in an FBI agent if not always in a writer—lead him to reveal the kind of detail that is often valuable and enjoyable to a reader. For example, he speaks about the raid on the Denver residence of known Afghani terrorist Najibullah Zazi:

. . . agents opened the door to a bedroom closet and found a five-gallon Igloo cooler filled with white powder. Who keeps five gallons of white powder in a cooler on the floor of a bedroom closet? The team immediately though it might have found enough of the peroxide-based explosive TATP to take down the entire building. So, on an already full day, Denver had to cordon off the area, lock down the apartment complex, evacuate the building, and bring in bomb-recovery personnel. It turned out the bucket the agents had left in place contained . . . five gallons of flour.

Then there’s this passage when he speaks of the difficult aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing:

. . . the entire crime scene, the zone encompassing the scene of the attack on Boylston Street and the area around it, had been filled with spectators,, most of whom got away unscathed. Practically all of these people, when the bombs went off, dropped whatever they were carrying—backpacks, purses, briefcases, bags of groceries—and ran. So at a scene where bombs had likely gone off inside some sort of bag, the ground was covered with thousands of bags and backpacks, everyone of which had to be cleared by a bomb team before we could even begin the process of evidence recovery. And how would we keep track of everything?

Unfortunately, his command of detail deserts him when he defends himself against the findings of “lack of candor” issued in a report by the Inspector General. He declines to be specific about the circumstances—namely, that he authorized a leak to The Wall Street Journal in order to defend his own reputation and later deceived Comey about it—and instead speaks of how, during the interview with the IG staff, he was “disconnecting from questioning,” “wasn’t following their questions,” that his “mind was elsewhere.” (In McCabe’s defense, this interview was also the first time he encountered the notorious Strzok-Page texts, a public relations bombshell that must indeed have been distracting. Still, the “my mind was elsewhere” defense seems incommensurate with the circumstances, especially coming from a veteran counter-terrorism interviewer like himself.)

McCabe, however, is effective in recreating his meetings with President Trump. During Michael Cohen’s recent Congressional public hearing, I was struck with how Cohen said Trump never asked you to lie, but instead had a certain way of talking. He would say,”This is a beautiful tie, isn’t it?” and you knew you were supposed to answer “Yes, that is a beautiful tie.” McCabe gives us an excellent example of what Cohen meant in his account with his first interview with Trump after the firing of Comey:

”He started off telling me, We fired the director, and we want you to be the acting director now. We had to fire him—and people are very happy about it. I think people are very happy that we finally got rid of him. I think there’s a lot of people in the FBI who are glad he’s gone. . . . The president claimed there had been a rebellion inside the FBI and asked me if it was true that people disliked Director Comey. I replied that . . . the general feeling in the FBI about this director seemed positive. He looked at me, with a tilt of the head, an expression of dismay or disagreement, or both. I had not given the answers he expected or wanted. The subtext of everything he was saying to me, clearly, came down to this: Whose side are you on?

McCabe is also good on the subject of Comey, and even better when he speaks of Mueller:

Mueller would kick back in his chair, sitting very straight. Put his hand to his mouth. Circle his chin—really, polish it—with his knuckles. You could see him thinking, making connections, preparing questions. . . . If he learned forward, it was a very bad sign. Mueller leans forward only when frustrated. . . If he leaned forward, looking at the chart, and then smacked the side of his hand against his head—then it was all over . . .

Now that this review is all over, I have decided that, even if McCabe may be a little boring, he hasn’t written a boring book. He has been close to the center of action in very interesting times, and has more than a few interesting things to say.

Besides, I’m getting tired of “interesting.” Donald Trump is a very interesting phenomenon. but I’d feel safer if the country was in the hands of a boring straight-arrow like Andrew G. McCabe.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well Written, Credible and Scary as Hell

I wanted to read this book. I don't know much about the inner workings of the FBI and I knew this would explain a lot. It tells McCabe's own personal story and tells us just how the FBI works.
The tall tales that trump tells about Mueller, Comey and McCabe are refuted easily by this book. Knowing about the people who work there and the way they do things you will find that the idea of three Republican career FBI men being involved in a plot against the man in the White House is ludicrous. You would be just as concerned as they were and just as alarmed.
If you aren't as scared as I am, you aren't paying attention. Thank you Andrew McCabe for an excellent book.

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a memoir of McCabe’s time in the FBI. He provided a great deal of information about the inner workings of the FBI. I found that part of the book most enlighting. The information he provided about Trump and his administration was similar to materials provided by many other authors. I found the discussion about Attorney General Sessions disturbing. It appears the questioning by Senator Kamala Harris revealed more than we understood at the time. I found McCabe was a bit light in some sections about his involvement and reported only generally as to what was happening. I gather that was to protect himself. I hope that at some future date he will feel safer writing about what role he played. He was also light about his personal life.

The book was well written and researched. I found the overall information in the book informative and suggest this book be added to a growing list of must-read books. I also found the book a bit scary as far as Trump and Sessions are concerned.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is nine hours and twenty minutes. McCabe does a good job narrating his own book.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have decided to embark on a mission to read a number of books on subjects that will be of great importance to the upcoming 2020 US Presidential Election. Many of these will focus on actors intricately involved in the process, in hopes that I can understand them better and, perhaps, educate others with the power to cast a ballot. I am, as always, open to serious recommendations from anyone who has a book I might like to include in the process.

This is Book #18 in my 2020 US Election Preparation Challenge.

When Andrew G. McCabe assumed the role of Acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in May 2017, he could not have known the full mess that he was inheriting. That he lasted only a short while was likely not a surprise to him, though it could have been a blessing in disguise. In this book, McCabe not only discusses some of his memories during that brief time on thin ice, but also his life within the Bureau and some of the interesting things he was able to accomplish in his two decades of dedication. Blunt and to the point, this is a great piece to shed some light on how far off the rails things got and how the current administration will stop at nothing to bastardise one of the key intelligence agencies in America. Recommended to those who have an interest in FBI history and are able to keep an open mind throughout.

McCabe seeks not only to tell his story, but to explore the importance of the FBI in the larger American intelligence community. He goes into great detail about the vetting he underwent and how he was forced to lay it all on the line and provide honest answers if he wanted to make any progress with his application. Ready to commit himself and eager to move wherever he was needed, McCabe and his wife took the plunge and prepared for an exciting life.

McCabe began in Organized Crime, dealing in the New York area. He recounts how he got his hands dirty by handling Russian mobsters who were setting up their own territory and trying to put pressure on those in the region for their own benefit. McCabe explores how he had to work within the parameters of the FBI to weed out those who were the bigger fish and might prove to be the most problematic, ushering them up the line and making sure that justice was met. His discussions are not only insightful, but help to educate on topics that seem only to appear in the latest headlines of newspapers and in magazines.

Thereafter, McCabe moved to counter-terrorism, where he was able to see some of the threats that could have crippled the country. These were crafty people, working both within the United States and on foreign soil. McCabe was able to work effectively to dilute the threats and to keep America as safe as possible, while also finding itself short on intelligence when it was needed most. The reader who has a great interest in this area can enjoy many stories and in-depth information about the role the Bureau plays in sharing intelligence and pushing it up the line within the Department of Justice.

When McCabe assumed a senior management role in Washington, D.C. he prepared for some of the roles little known or discussed with the general public. Preparing intelligence documents for high-level briefings and liaising directly with the Attorney General proved to be two areas that helped McCabe blossom, though it was also the start of his seeing where politics and the Bureau can walk a fine line. McCabe argues throughout that there should be a clear separation, even if some wish to meld the two. Frank comparisons from the Obama Era and into the Trump Administration are made and strong editorialising occurs, though it is well grounded to provide true contrasting with how the Bureau has been turned away from its intelligence role and into a personal army of brown shirts for the current president and his Attorneys-General lackeys.

There is a great discussion of the Russia Investigation and the Clinton email scandal, both of which McCabe found himself working within. This moves into how the Trump Administration sought to politicize the Bureau, as did Director Comey in some regard. The fallout from the Trump-Comey clash takes centre stage, which led to a sickening attempt at a loyalty pledge by the president. This, in McCabe’s opinion, may have been the beginning of the end. As Acting Director, McCabe sought to keep the lines clearly drawn, though his lack of sycophancy proved to be too much for the Egoist in Chief to handle. That McCabe refused a loyalty pledge and was too aligned with the views of Comey proved to be his downfall. Only Trump could have been so vindictive... or simply a dick!

There will be some who call this book sour grapes and riddled with fake stories. Those people have the right to their opinion, though I felt Andrew McCabe handled himself well and shot from the hip only when it was needed. His insight into life within the FBI helps to educate the curious reader, while also showing just how much pressure can befall someone who is gathering intelligence on a daily basis. The book is divided into strong chapters, all of which are full of great information, even if there are moments of editorialising. While I would have loved a more detailed memoir, this was likely not the time or place, as McCabe wanted to get his message out for all the hear. If I am to believe much of what McCabe says, the Bureau is but one pillar in the intelligence community that is in trouble, forced to reinvent itself when a megalomaniac seeks to pressure for things done his way and to forget those things that do not benefit him. As scary as this sounds, things will only get worse if something does not change soon.

Kudos, Mr. McCabe, for your honest opinions. I am eager to see what others have to say, though reading your book and that of Former Director Comey, I can see a lot hit the fan since January 2017!

Love/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

A Book for All Seasons, a different sort of Book Challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

[H.M. Ada · Rating 5 out of 5]

In late 2015, I read an article about how a securities analyst reported that Trump's Taj Mahal casino was headed for financial trouble, and how Trump leaned on his contacts to get that analyst fired. Not long after, the Taj went bankrupt, harming investors, contractors, and workers. The article asked if Trump was really the type of person that we wanted to be president.

Fast forward to March 16, 2018, just 26 hours before McCabe's scheduled retirement from the FBI after more than two decades of service, when Trump had McCabe fired for his role in the Russia investigation. Again, Trump was using his power to silence the truth and further his own interests, by firing someone was who only doing his job. Only this time, the institution Trump was corrupting was one charged with upholding the Constitution and protecting the public's safety: the FBI.

The first two-thirds of this book have little to do with Trump. That is because they are about public service, a concept completely foreign to our current president. They chronicle McCabe's decision to join the FBI, his training, and his cases combatting organized crime and terrorism. McCabe's passion for the job and the FBI's mission really come through and are inspiring, especially in the audiobook, read by McCabe himself. This is all in contrast to the last third of the book, which is about how McCabe's good work was co-opted by hyper-partisan forces, first in the Clinton email investigation, and then in Trump's efforts to end the Russia investigation.

Some of the Trump confrontations are intense. Like when Trump fishes to see if McCabe will be loyal to him, when Trump asks McCabe who he voted for, tells him that FBI agents love Trump and hate James Comey and that 80/90% of the FBI voted Trump, and when Trump call's McCabe's wife a loser and asks him what it's like for her to be a loser. McCabe also recounts the bizarre experience of visiting Trump at the White House and being greeted by a poster map showing Trump's electoral college victory, and the little school-boy chairs arranged in front of the resolute desk.

One question that I don't fee McCabe fully answered, is how the FBI can continue to protect America in the age of Trump. McCabe fears that if Trump is unchecked, good people will no longer be called to careers in public service. And as I write this review, Congress and the public are waiting for the redacted version of the Mueller Report, right now having only William Barr's summary of that report to go on. That I believe is where we citizens come in. We must follow the examples of McCabe and the many others who have stood up for truth and justice. We must tell their stories, serve our country and our communities in whatever ways we can, participate in our democracy, and finally, we must vote.

[Mehrsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I said I was going to stop reading these Trump-era memoirs, but I lied. I'm glad because this one is a good one. Mostly because it's not really about Trump--well it is about Trump, but that's not the most interesting part. It was fascinating to get some more perspective into the mind of an FBI career person. McCabe seems like a humorless and totally upstanding guy. I really liked his explanations of the post 9/11 FBI frantically following every random tip.

The parts about Trump are also pretty interesting. Some nuggets that won't shock anyone:
1. The administration doesn't know anything
2. Trump is a bully
3. Sessions wanted everything to be about immigration--this was the most interesting and depressing part--he was obsessed about where everyone was from. And if you had a hint of being "foreign" even if you were born here, he was suspicious
4. Man did Comey mess up--even though he was by all accounts not doing anything shady.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Fidelity. Bravery. Integrity." -- the Federal Bureau of Investigation motto

McCabe, a former deputy director (2016-2018) and acting director (summer 2017) of the FBI, was - in his words, not mine - a rarity in that investigatory / field agents do not often ascend to the 'top spot' in this historical agency. (Louis Freeh, the director who served during the Clinton presidency, was a notable exception.) As such, McCabe's biographical section of this book make for interesting reading. He was assigned to the New York City office - one of the largest and busiest of the 56 in the U.S. - during the 90's and 00's, and worked on both organized crime and terrorism investigations. I suppose some might say his descriptions / explanations of the agency's responsibilities / activities tend to lapse into Dragnet-like conciseness, but I liked his swift, no-nonsense writing style.

The latter part of the book focuses on director James Comey's controversial dismissal by President Trump, some of the recent sensitive and politically-involved investigations, and also McCabe's brief time in charge. POTUS Trump and some of his staff are portrayed none too kindly, though McCabe pleasantly remarks about VP Mike Pence - "Whatever else might be said about the vice president, I will say this: Every time I have [interacted] with him, he has conducted himself as a gentleman . . . manners count for a lot." It's nice to know at least someone near the top has some common courtesy.

[Lorna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump is a very well-written memoir by Andrew McCabe relating his lifelong history and career with the FBI, culminating in his firing by Donald Trump less than twenty-six hours before his planned retirement. This is a personal story, not only of McCabe's career but of the FBI and of its integrity and independence in protecting America and fighting to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. Andrew McCabe is a true patriot and I wish him well.

"The president exposes himself as a deliberate liar, someone who will say whatever he pleases to get whatever he wishes. . . . What more could a person do to erode the credibility of the presidency? But news reports of such episodes come and go in the blink of an eye. A common reaction is, Of course he did that--it's Trump. That's what he does. How is the whole nation not offended?'

"He went after me because the FBI opened the Russia case, which led to the appointment of a special counsel. He went after the FBI. . . . because its work has led to more than thirty indictments--with more likely to come--of individuals associated with Russian interference in the 2016 election. Those investigations raise questions bout the legitimacy of his presence in the White House--questions that prompt fear."

[John Bordeaux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Important background for what’s next

Good, short overview regarding some recent history of interest. More tales of decent people, trying to do the right thing. Chewed over by, and spit from, the maw of today’s political reality show.

[Bettie · Rating 5 out of 5]

McCabe concerned about 'unfair treatment' after book release delayed by FBI

Former assistant director of the FBI Frank Figliuzzi, former US attorney Chuck Rosenberg, former federal prosecutor Paul Butler, The Daily Beast’s Sam Stein, and NBC’s Carol Lee on former Acting FBI director Andrew McCabe’s new tell all that gives insight into Rod Rosenstein’s memo on the firing of James Comey
Feb. 8, 2019

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump . Andrew G. McCabe, veteran more than 20 years in the FBI, has published his story of some of his most challenging times as a Special Agent, Deputy Director, and Acting Director of America’s domestic intelligence and security service. He recounts his training at Quantico followed by his first assignment in New York on the Organized Crime Task Force in 1996, where, ironically, he hunted members of the Russian mob. I say, “ironic,” because as anyone who has paid any attention to US politics for the past two years knows, Andrew McCabe was a key figure in the turmoil surrounding Republican Donald J. Trump and the Mueller investigation into possible Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election. It’s as if his career came full circle. It ended just 26 hours before his scheduled retirement.

In between, he led counter-terrorism units, which included high-profile disasters such as the 9/11 attacks and the Boston Marathon bombing. When Barack Obama came to the White House, then-Director Mueller put McCabe in charge of HIG – the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group. President Obama was opposed to waterboarding and other forms of torture, and he wanted Guantanamo Bay detention camp closed. HIG was to be a joint effort with the CIA and Department of Defense in overhauling the methods of questioning detainees, and McCabe was to head it. Gulp! I found this to be quite interesting and informative, and even humorous in places.

I enjoyed reading his assessment of Director Robert Mueller, a man who is a mystery to most of us, even though we have heard his name many, many times on the news over the past two years. He says that Mueller is not “Mr.Casual...Ball-busting is his way of expressing affection. If he said, ‘Where does a person even find a tie like that?’ I knew things were fine: He never went out of his way to insult anyone he didn’t actually like.” I got the impression that Mueller is quite disciplined, controlled, and extremely competent. McCabe seemed to like working for him, seems to admire him. Similarly, he likes and admires Jim Comey, the man he worked for and whom he succeeded, even though he disagreed with his handling of the Hilary Clinton e-mail announcement late in the 2016 election campaign.

McCabe is not afraid to express his opinions, and I trust that despite his honesty, he and Comey remain on good terms, because they value honesty. So I will be honest here too: the account of the Clinton e-mail investigation is very, very detailed, and in my opinion, much of it could have been pared down. Perhaps that’s just my political fatigue showing, but I was very tempted to skim through that part. McCabe does make valid points about Attorney General Lynch’s involvement, however.

He makes some astute observations about the political situation at the time of the transition and in the early days of the Trump administration. It is clear that McCabe views terrorism of many kinds as a threat to our safety and security: organized crime, terrorist groups such as ISIS, and of course, politicians who lie, manipulate, and behave as if they are above the law. The latter, of course, is what has many people reading his book. In reality, his narrative about his experiences with Trump, Sessions, and others in the administration fills perhaps only 25-30% of the book. It opens with his first meeting with Trump immediately after Director Comey has been fired. Then, about midway, he throws in a chapter about the President’s Daily Briefing where he compares Attorney General Jeff Sessions to previous AGs, not in a favorable way.

The nitty-gritty stuff about Russia and Trump comes in the last fourth of the book. McCabe paints the FBI and himself as dedicated professionals with no political affiliation whose job it is to serve and protect. He does not mince words when it comes to Donald Trump:

If the principle of noninterference with the wheels of justice holds for a president as a broad, general matter, it is a hundred times more important that he not weigh in on anything that affects him personally. Today we have a president who is willing not only to comment prejudicially on a criminal prosecution but to comment on one that potentially affects himself. He does both of these things almost daily – and directly and repeatedly – to millions of followers on Twitter and viewers on television....He is lobbying for a result. He is telling the judge, the defendant, and the world his preferred outcome.

McCabe writes about President Clinton’s lying about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, which was considered a big deal at time. But what about now, when we are “battered,” he says, every day with bizarre statements and untruths? “If he were in the box at Quantico,” McCabe writes, “he would break the machine.”

I was confused about McCabe’s firing, and he does little to clarify it. He states that he is filing a lawsuit and cannot go into details. He does make reference to the situation, but it was unclear to me what really happened. I think this was intentional on the author’s part. Legally, of course, he needs to be cautious.

He also feels a need to protect his family, justifiably so. He and his wife came under attack frequently during tweet-storms. Let me say that the impression Andrew McCabe made on me was that he seems to be a man of integrity and dedication to the FBI, his country, and his family. He worked with some very fine individuals, and it sounds like he made the best of their mentorship and leadership so that when the time came, he was prepared to take over and lead the FBI in very tumultuous political times.

I’d like to close with a final quote from the book that struck me because I wondered, how does one stay focused on an investigation – any investigation – when one is being hounded about his wife’s failed political ambitions or dropping an investigation into the president or the firing of one’s predecessor or something even ridiculous...

Crises taught me how to compartmentalize. Example: the Boston Marathon bombing...I had the primal human response that anyone would have. But I know how to build walls around that response and had to build them in order to stay focused on finding the bombers. Compared to experiences like that one, getting tweeted about by Donald Trump does not count as a crisis. I do not even know how to think about the fact that the person with time on his hands to tweet about me and my wife is the president of the United States.

This book was not the shocking, eye-opener that I expected it to be, probably because I have followed the investigation pretty closely. But I agree with that last sentence. How did we get to this point?

4 stars

[Donald Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good explanation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and how it works. This was a limited insight into the players and events of the investigation into the Trump campaign. He also describes the Clinton Benghazi and email investigations and the Boston Marathon horror. It is well written and addresses philosophies and principles which needed to be recorded for history. It is fun to read a history book of events which have just transpired. I recommend this book to everyone.

[Rian Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Former Acting Director and Deputy Director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe has written book that has three parts: One that focuses on his career, another how the FBI operates in a post-911 world and why he thinks our democratic system is under threat both from within and without. After reading this book I agree with him on the third point.

First, the career. McCabe talks about how he started wanting to work for the FBI despite getting a pay cut from his private practice and the sacrifices he made. He tells us that the FBI could have assigned him anywhere in the USA, but he ended up in New York City. Interestingly, he started his career investigating organized Russian crime because at the time, the main focus was Italian, and the Russian criminals seemed less of a threat. It would be organized Russian crime that would lead to his termination at the end of his career. He states that the Russian government and organized crime are essentially interchangeable. After reading numerous books about modern-day Russia, I must say that picture is accurate. Even in the news today, we get reports of an American businessman,Michael Calvey, being arrested in Russia. The big takeaway here is that 1) he made a sacrifice of his potential earnings to serve his country in the FBI role 2) Russia has become a bigger threat because the players there have serious money and power that could disrupt our Democratic institutions. He makes a case at the end saying how it is imperative that we keep attracting the best talent to the FBI and other government work because we rely on them to maintain our way of life.

Second, he lays out how investigations work with organized crime and counter-terrorism. This part I found fascinating, and I was really impressed with how things are handled. Obviously, the FBI has stumbles here and there, but as a citizen it is good to know what is happening in the background when I read news about FBI activities, such as high-profile arrests. The picture he paints is one of dedicated professionalism.

Last, and most controversially, he lays a case against the President, Donald Trump. He does not really even try to seem fair and impartial here, but I cannot say I blame him after all that Trump has said and done to him and his family. Normally, I would knock a star off for this kind of one-sidedness, but I will knock only half a star since I cannot really fault him, but it would be nice to have what he felt was the "other side" even though I doubt McCabe would say he could find one. What about future presidents? Is there a possibility a "bad actor" within the FBI could influence the president in some way via an investigation or damaging information? It was Nixon who bitterly complained about J. Edgar Hoover, when he said, "Hoover's got files on everybody god****t". I think a little more could have been done to dispel this argument. Nonetheless, the portrait he paints of Trump is dark and compelling. Throughout the book, he scatters hints about Trump's bad deeds, such as the well-publicized link between the Trump organization and Russian mafia types who bring laundered money in to purchase assets in Trump's real estate.

Being an avid reader of other books about the dangers and inner workings of Trump (such as Fear and Team of Vipers), this was another interesting look at Trump's inner circle. After reading various books on the background of Trump, especially David Cay Johnston's It's Even Worse than You Think that goes into detail about Trump's relationships with Russians, I must say this is a dangerous time in government. It becomes obvious that Trump has hidden some dark secrets from the public, and I am sure that someday the whole Truth will come out. I also believe that after this presidency we need a way to separate the presidency from the Department of Justice, and especially the FBI somehow so that presidential interference cannot happen this way again.

Overall, this is a highly-recommended look at how important our justice system is and how it is (and can be in the future) undermined by our elected officials. Voters would do well to read it to become better informed.

4.5 stars, rounded to 5

[Monica Kim | Musings of Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The purpose of the FBI is not to support one side. The purpose of the FBI is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. — Andrew G. McCabe, The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump
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Andrew G. McCabe’s “The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump” is an insightful, revealing, and an important book at a crucial time in our history. Bit tedious & dry at times, but his credibility, integrity, and professionalism in subject matter, commitment to service, organization, and country, and concern & safety for our country & people were deeply felt and well & thoughtfully documented in the book.
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“On March 16, 2018, just twenty-six hours before his scheduled retirement from the organization he had served with distinction for more than two decades, Andrew G. McCabe was fired from his position as deputy director of the FBI. President Donald Trump celebrated on Twitter: "Andrew McCabe FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great day for Democracy."
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The book is loosely divided into three parts: one part focuses on life of McCabe & his career, second part focuses on inner workings of FBI, specifically organized crimes & counter-terrorism, and last part focuses on time between Donald Trump's November 2016 election & McCabe's firing, and argument on why he thinks our democratic system is under threat. I liked the methodical way the book was organized, giving us glimpse into his personal life, FBI organization, then current administration providing readers with a full picture & important background in understanding our current dangerous state of our country, and the biggest threat to our national security from within. McCabe recounts in detail some of the toughest crimes he has worked on from organized Russian mafias in his early days as a field agent in New York to 9/11 to Boston Marathon, to addressing specifics of current administration’s efforts to undermine the FBI organization. It’s all very scary, but fascinating, nevertheless.
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McCabe is a life-long Republican, but this book isn’t just for the left or right readers. He is unbiased in his writing, there’s no gossip, and his loyalty is clear — people, country, and constitution. He is as concerned as any other citizens, but has also dealt & seen it directly both professionally & personally. It is easy to get discouraged by & lost in all the chaos & scary news we’re bombarded each day. But we can’t forget the thousands of patriotic & passionate people protecting & working for our country. McCabe and the thousands of other agents of the FBI answer their sworn duty to protect the Constitution and the American people. I can’t imagine how nightmarish it must be to be working on some of toughest crimes & challenges while constantly being attacked & undermined. You can tell McCabe is a very private person, despite his position & work, and it probably wasn’t easy to write a book sharing his life & work; but he’s done another big service to our country by sharing his life & concern of our country. I’m sure this book will be a valuable reference in the future. Highly recommend it! 🤓✌️📖

[SC · Rating 1 out of 5]

So McCabe comes out on national TV and admits that he was part of an organized coup to overthrow the President of the United States. How is it that people can continue to swallow this Deep State propaganda? The Threat is real and it is the author of this book and his fellow three-letter agency goons.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never before read a book written from the vantage point of a high ranking FBI operative and I found the book fascinating. It is both an autobiography and a meditation on the importance of keeping intelligence investigations outside the realm of partisan politics.

Initially, McCabe's writing is clear, almost brusque and to the point. He provides the reader with objective evidence, devoid of emotion. He describes his early life, career choices and case assignments. His resume is impressive. He investigated the Russian mafia and its links to the Kremlin, 9/11, Benghazi, the Boston bombing and the Clinton e-mail scandal prior to James Comey's firing and his appointment as acting FBI director.

McCabe's tone changes as he recounts his encounters with Trump, Sessions et.al. He describes FBI processes and procedures and argues passionately for the rule of law, based upon factual evidence. The detailed accounts of the behavior of Trump, Sessions, and their total disregard for all protocol is chilling. Standing up to Trump costs McCabe his job and his pension. He is a courageous man and his story and passionate plea needs to be heard.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew McCabe tells the story of his career at the FBI. He starts with the training agents receive and how his first days and cases played out. He concludes with his very public dismissal. From his experiences you learn how the FBI works from the 302s to the investigatory procedures.

As McCabe moves up the ladder from an agent investigating Russian protection rackets to being Deputy Director (then briefly, but importantly, Acting Director) he explains how the FBI works from the importance of paperwork to the chain of command in investigatory procedures. You get a feel for the staggering amount of information the agency processes, its work ethic and its institutional values.

Most interesting to me was McCabe's role in starting the HIG – High Value Detainee Interrogation Group. Everything about this from how you report to a boss like Robert Mueller to how interviews differ from interrogations to the differences in the techniques and goals of interrogating agencies (FBI, CIA, and DOD) was fascinating. I love how he described testifying before Congress - everyone comes with talking points and your goal is to "get out alive".

There is behind the scenes information about the “underwear bomber”, how the Boston Marathon bombers were found and the Clinton investigations.

There is a very sympathetic portrait of Rod Rosenstein and it makes you grateful for him and McCabe being in the positions they were at this critical time.

He covers the need to go by the book how it is difficult to open and conduct investigations on those who are (and can be) heavily lawyered. McCabe's dismissal, (and those of James Comey, Peter Stzork and Lisa Page) stand as an example of the pitfalls.

The firing of McCabe (on TV) 26 hours before his retirement was unnecessarily viscous. Since there is litigation, not much is said. Up to this point, Trump was bullying McCabe (now acting FBI Director) … calling Mrs. McCabe a "loser"; "conducting" a 3 minute impromptu interview of him for the Director’s job; bragging about his (Trump's) perceived popularity at the FBI.

The book is pithy “Just the facts” – like. If the Mueller Report is too long for you, try this instead – it does not cover the same turf, but it helps you understand the investigatory process. If you are interested in a career at the FBI – it's a must read.

[Carey Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things I knew about the FBI:

1: The FBI is like the CIA but different.
2: They are both usually the bad guys in movies, right?

Things I learned about the FBI after reading Jim Comey's memoir, A Higher Loyalty:

1: J Edgar Hoover thought he was the man and started the FBI and was the longest serving Director.
2: The FBI is a nonpartisan government agency.
3: FBI agents are fit, smart, come in all shapes and sizes, work long hours, and don't get paid "much."
4: The FBI's mission is to uphold the Constitution and protect the citizens of the USA.
5: My office is a few stories below an FBI office (they're on the 7th or 9th floor. . .I think).

Things I learned about the FBI after reading Andrew McCabe's memoir, The Threat:

1: Despite what the President says, FBI agents pretty universally liked Jim Comey.
2: The Federal Bureau of Investigations mostly investigates things.
3: After 9/11 the FBI underwent a major overhaul by adding a counter-terrorism focus.
4: There's a fake town a few minutes from where my friend grew up where FBI agents train.
5: People get paid to live in this fake town and be fake people for the FBI agents to train with.
6: THIS WAS GOING ON BEFORE WESTWORLD WAS A THING.
7: And so much more!

I couldn't get enough of this book. It was a satisfying blend of memoir, inside look into the FBI, and unique perspective on current events. I didn't have a great handle on who McCabe is from the news and Comey's memoir, but I'm glad I dove right in. The material is interesting (even if we have to rehash Hilary's emails again), and it's fun to get a closer view of major players today specifically the hilariously tight-lipped former FBI Director Robert Mueller whom McCabe served under. McCabe goes out of his way to say at least one nice thing about everyone included here except for. . .at least two people. Boy, he does not like those two people.

P.S. "The Threat" isn't just Trump.

[Thomas Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book read like a page turner. It was great to learn all the background processes that go into FBI investigations. TV shows don't really tell all the truth. McCabe was also an excellent writer. Often government officials need help with that. Apparently he didn't.
I was particularly struck by his descriptions of the confusion and lack of decorum he experience when dealing with Sessions and Trump. The little schoolboy chairs that Trump had set up in front of his desk for people to sit in. The whiplash of interviewing for the job of FBI director one day and getting hammered by Trump on Twitter the next.
What it must be like to actually have to report to a president who runs the administration like a criminal enterprise. A page turner, but hard to read in another way. What we have been learning about Trump is worse than we thought.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.
A well written book about Andrew McCabe’s rise, fall and eventual firing from the FBI 28 hours before he was set to retire (literally on Trumped up charges.)
He goes into the history of the FBI, its mission and how the agents solve crimes. The book is especially interesting when he covers Benghazi, the Boston Marathon bombing and the Mueller investigation. Throughout the book he stresses several times that the FBI’s only loyalty is to the American people and the Constitution. He worked hard to maintain his integrity, personally and professionally. He could not get into what happened after he was fired due to ongoing litigation. I truly hopes he wins.
I absolutely recommend this book. It is so well written and gives an interesting insider’s view of current events.

[Dey Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A three star book with a five bell warning. A warning that the sitting president ‘s behavior is effectively tearing our nation apart by slandering that which threatens his position of power - be it the FBI, Congress, the Judiciary, or the media. Former acting director of the FBI McCabe who worked and traveled as right hand to both Robert Muller and James Comey was tasked as an FBI agent to bring down Russian organized crime in New York is responsible for heroically establishing the special counsel investigation into Russian involvement in our 2016 presidential election and into possible collusion with the Trump campaign for president. He also worked the Clinton email case, The Boston Bombing, 911, and Italian mob RICO cases. He sees frightening similarities in the way that the crime mob bosses he pursued and the way Donald Trump operate. Here McCabe attempts to set the record straight about himself and his wife, and Fmr FBI director James Comey amidst a firestorm of political attacks and misinformation and criticism on him and the FBI leading up to his firing - emanating primarily from the White House and Congress and pleads the case that; 1) he has been a good soldier devoutly protecting the Constitution - and more importantly; 2) warns that we as a nation - as a great democracy - are now experiencing a withering of that democracy and an unprecedented crisis of leadership.

[Kressel Housman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't plan for McCabe's book to be next in my exploration of how democracy is declining throughout the world, but it was on the "brand new release" shelf at my public library, so I grabbed it. I thought my next read would be one of the recommendations on the "Gaslit Nation" podcast. That's significant because the hosts of that podcast are more distrustful of American institutions than any other podcasters I listen to. They are not alleging, as Trump does, that there's a "deep state" out to get him. What they argue is kind of the opposite: that the institutions have failed the American public. The FBI saw evidence of Russian interference in the election, but whatever they did about it was ineffective. "Robert Mueller and James Comey are Boy Scouts," said one of the podcasters, "fighting against an international crime syndicate." I don't remember what they said about Andrew McCabe in this context, but I don't see why he'd be an exception.

Now, I listen to more moderate anti-Trump podcasters also, like Benjamin Wittes. (The "Gaslit Nation" podcasters don't have kind words for him either.) So while there's a good argument to be made that the institutions have failed us, I still cannot think of a better option than relying rule of law.

All of that is my long way of saying that I went into this book with a mild but not unconquerable bias. I was going to take Andrew McCabe with a grain of salt.

To put it bluntly, I found much of the book kind of boring. Perhaps that's because I'd already read James Comey's book, and the two are very similar. Part One: origin story of a career in law enforcement. Part Two: proud accomplishments during career. And Part Three: Where We Are Now. Though there were interesting stories within Part Two, the most riveting sections came whenever McCabe called out Trump. Those were impassioned cries for democracy, civic duty, and justice. They were compelling, and I was right there with him. Not so for the rest of the book. My mind wandered quite a bit.

The most telling of all of the scenes with Trump happened after the Comey firing. Every time McCabe met with Trump in the days after Comey was fired, Trump would comment that he'd gotten so many complaints about Comey, it must be a relief for the FBI that he was gone. Then he'd wait for McCabe to back him up, which he did not, though McCabe also says he kicks himself for not being more forthright about how upset the FBI staff actually was. But it's the dynamic that's so revealing. It's exactly what Michael Cohen said about Trump in his testimony before Congress. Trump paints a false narrative, and then the person listening to him has to acknowledge this "legal fiction" or new interpretation of events. Is this gaslighting or not? Does it count as gaslighting when everyone involved know that they're lying? Or in seeking this confirmation, is Trump trying to convince himself of his own lies? I really don't know what to make of it, except to say that it's reminiscent of the kind of dynamic that R.D. Laing described in explaining insanity. What kind of mass therapy is our world going to need to emerge from this craziness?

I must say that McCabe did some excellent interviews when promoting this book. I especially recommend the one he did at the Washington D.C. bookstore, "Politics and Prose," which you can hear on Slate. But once you've heard the interview, you can skip the book. As a former leader of the FBI, Andrew McCabe is an important figure in recent history. His voice should be heard. But he's not that great a writer or storyteller. So listen to him speak. That's where he's in his element.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Defense of the FBI, Criticism of Trump, Concern for Country

All through my childhood the FBI could do no wrong. Then in adulthood I, like many, developed a more nuanced view of the FBI, based upon J. Edgar Hoover’s unwarranted investigations of Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders. After Hoover, there was a more critical examination of the way the FBI’s resources were allocated and the agency’s priorities in protecting society. In general, though, the view of most Republicans and conservatives was unchanged: the FBI could do no wrong. More generally Americans have held the institution in high regard if not above criticism.

Now, under the Trump administration, the FBI is under attack as never before and Andrew McCabe sets about to defend the institution and to write a highly critical appraisal of President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Perhaps the strongest part of the book deals with the methodology of FBI investigations. The author is candid about the struggle the FBI had post 9/11 to ramp up its investigation of potential terrorist plots. In the immediate aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center, the FBI was inundated with citizen leads about suspicious behavior. McCable uses the metaphor of a child collecting rocks, first one and then many until the rocks became an overload. “We erred heavily on the side of collection [of information]…driven by the fear of missing something.” Over time, the bureau developed targeted investigative techniques which were a more effective use of resources.

McCabe provides an insider’s view of how the FBI investigated terrorist plots including those to bomb airplanes (leading to limits on bringing liquids onboard a flight). He also provides an account of the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing as investigators sorted through hours of surveillance videos to identify the two brothers responsible for the attack.

Individuals in any large bureaucracy do not ascend to top leadership positions by being politically naive. Robert Mueller, James Comey, and author Andrew McCabe are all experienced Washington bureaucrats. But in McCabe’s version of events, the FBI was increasingly swept into the vortex of divisive Washington politics. Comey, as director, struggled to preserve the objectivity of FBI as an institution in an atmosphere of, “you are either with us or against us.”

McCabe offers Bengazi as a case history of the increasing efforts to politicize the FBI. Congressional Republicans were dissatisfied with the FBI’s assessment that there was no evidence of a coverup and no evidence of wrongdoing by President Obama or Secretary of State Clinton. Over four years there were eight separate Congressional investigations led by Republicans in which no new information was uncovered that would alter the FBI’s conclusions or provide the basis for censure or prosecution.

By the time of the disclosure of the Hillary e-mails, Director Comey was focused upon preserving the reputation of the FBI against Republican suspicion of the agency’s Democratic bias. Traditionally the FBI would have remained silent if it could not develop sufficient evidence for prosecution, but as is well known Comey held a press conference in which he characterized Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server as reckless even while finding that there was no basis for pursuing the matter further. Then, just days before the election he reopened the investigation when e-mails were found on a Clinton aide’s laptop which could be accessed by her husband. We will never know whether this made the difference in the election outcome but we do know that in trying to project the FBI’s “objectivity,” Comey’s decision had quite the opposite effect.

As the election approached, the FBI was also investigating allegations about Russian involvement in the Trump campaign, although these were not made public. Once elected, President Trump accused the FBI of putting a spy in his campaign. McCabe points out that if the FBI hears a credible allegation that a government official is colluding with a foreign government, the agency has an obligation to look into the matter. And, says the author, no campaign would want to come under foreign influence. That, however, was not the way Donald Trump saw the FBI’s investigation.

McCabe outlines the efforts by President Trump, well reported elsewhere, to co-opt Comey and later McCabe himself by demanding personal loyalty, by engaging in bullying, and by rejecting any information at variance with his own preconceived notions. Thus, when presented with evidence of a North Korean intercontinental missile test, Trump declared that the launch hadn’t happened and any evidence to the contrary was a hoax. Many Presidential tweets further spread lies.

Indeed one of the most frightening revelations in the book is the extent to which the “President’s Daily Brief,” a summary of the most important intelligence collected by all the government intelligence agencies, is ignored by Trump and his advisors. Neither Trump nor Attorney General Jeff Sessions seemed to ever read the report. Oral briefings were often cancelled or, when held, rarely resulted in acknowledgment of the points being made or discussion of the policy options that should be considered.

This is not a well-written book although McCabe had writing and editorial help as he acknowledges. The book jumps around a lot, from the story of the author’s personal experiences, to his defense of James Comey and the FBI, to his own mistreatment including being fired 26 hours before he could qualify for full retirement benefits. He keeps returning to his concern that we have a president who at best is ignorant and who at worst is undermining the rule of law and undercutting the institutions that protect the country.

Worryingly, at the end of the day the reader is left with the impression that men who were skilled at bureaucratic infighting in a more conventional Washington have been outmaneuvered by a president unlike any other in our nation’s history. One can only hope that our institutions are strong enough to endure, despite “The Threat”.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Combination career retrospective, manifesto about the FBI's value, and rebuttal to Donald Trump's smears. McCabe comes off as levelheaded and principled; this is as much FBI inner-workings as it is the personal and professional trials brought on by the current administration. One of the better Trump-related tell-alls, it left me encouraged that the institutions of democracy, the FBI in particular, will prevail for us all.

[Nick Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

After I checked out this book at the library, I kept hearing people on TV saying things like this:

"Andrew McCabe's new book, which doesn't come out until Tuesday..."

And so, I thought, wait - I have this book in my hands. It's here. So - did I get a copy of the book BEFORE the release date? And as I heard more talking heads confirming that it "doesn't come out until Tuesday," I simply counted myself lucky that I had a chance to read it!

And I wasn't disappointed. McCabe uses this book to explain what the FBI does, how it does it, from working cases to refraining from any political considerations at all, and how it saves lives and brings down terrorists, mobsters, and criminals. We hear what it was like to be in the FBI after 9/11 happened, when the Boston Marathon bombing happened, and in moments of heated political controversy like the Benghazi investigations and the intersection of Donald Trump with the federal government of the United States.

We hear also, about the Mueller investigation. About working "the Russia case." About the events which sparked it, the moment of Comey's firing, the frenetic, fraught conversations in which Deputy A.G. Rod Rosenstein thought rapidly about wearing a wire to surveil the President, or invoking the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to remove the President. (Those last two ideas never were seriously considered, but were instead part of that frantic time of seeing direct evidence of a suggestion of obstruction of justice when the President may have been trying to shut down the Russia investigation).

But even though they were never implemented, those options of that heady time are a great descriptor of just how momentous a time in history we are experiencing, of just how massive the considerations of impropriety and the undermining of public institutions such as the FBI really are, and will continue to live on in history books forever after.

I do believe in the FBI, and it has angered me to see this gradual withering by the President, who says the Mueller investigation is a "witch hunt," and who attacks the Director (Comey), the Acting Director (McCabe), and also people like Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Jeff Sessions. I've always trusted the FBI. McCabe makes clear several times in this book that the primary role of the Bureau is to uphold the Constitution and investigate crimes.

You do get an in-depth perspective of different types of cases, from counterterrorism to counterintelligence, and how an agent works a case, how the team at the FBI interacts with each other and with the Justice Department and yes, sometimes Congress and the President. But you also see what it does NOT do - from following political considerations to having much interactions at all with the President. They don't use political concerns EVER. They just collect intelligence, which assists prosecutions, and keeps us all safe. I feel safe at night, knowing they're out there. And our democracy, although it has undertaken a tremendous corrosive erosion during the current Administration, will survive and hopefully will get back to its former status seen in the eyes of our allies and the world.

It's a quick, easy read. If you wonder about it at all, just get it and read it. It's really compelling, and I've heard other people say the same thing. Five stars. Timely. Outstanding.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is clear, concise, interesting, and important to all Americans. I highly recommend it! Andrew McCabe writes about his career with the FBI, how the FBI functions today (particularly with regard to anti-terrorism), and most importantly-his experiences since the election of Donald Trump. With ample facts and justification, he is highly critical of the behavior of Donald J. Trump.
The critics of McCabe and his book will deny his story and work to undermine his character. I think the most critical question (of course) is who is telling the truth? For me, this is not a difficult question. Andrew McCabe had a stellar record and reputation with the FBI. He rose through the ranks quickly. The events as he relates them are corroborated by witnesses (James Comey, Rod Rosenstein, etc.). McCabe is careful in his book to differentiate between facts and opinion. Contrast his record, reputation, and character with Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions, and others. Trump is a habitual and daily liar, a character assassin, and a man willing to do things and use his office to tilt the scales of justice in his favor. No matter how much you hear of or see the bizarre and at times cruel behavior of the 45th president, it is hard to digest and understand.
McCabe was fired from the FBI 26 hours before he was scheduled to retire with retirement benefits. That is a travesty of justice and civility, it's vindictive in the extreme, and should be corrected as soon as possible.
In short the weight of evidence is strongly in McCabe's favor and I recommend this book!

[Misfit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be afraid, be very afraid. But good for McCabe writing this. Kind of spoilerish, but something that happened when Rosenstein and McCabe met with the Gang of Eight in May 2017:


Now that the Gang of Eight was a crowd of two dozen in the room, I thought, the chance of this not getting back to the president was basically zero. Then Devin Nunes walked in, and the chance was less than zero.
...snip...

Look who’s here, I said to Rod. Rosenstein understood. He went to talk to Nunes, pulled him aside. Came back, told me, Nunes is staying, he says he’s not recused from this, he refuses to leave. I looked at Rod.

Why wasn't he crying to the rooftops about FISA warrants back then when he first found out about them? Hmmmm?

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished. This is by far the best book I’ve read of this milieu! It rings of authenticity. Very heartening to hear the story of someone who didn’t get sullied by working beside the vicious, mean spirited filth of the Trump administration. Must read for Americans who care about what this country stands for (even when we’ve failed miserably at it at times.)

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the Introduction: "The FBI has always been the nemesis of criminals. Today, the FBI is under attack by the president of the United States. The president assails the FBI because he resents or fears the Bureau's independence, its fairness, its professionalism, its competence, and above all its values."

How can any true "conservative" not be concerned about that.

The president looked at everything as "sides." He wanted to know whose side you were on: his or the rest of the world.

It is absolutely necessary that the FBI be independent of the White House to keep the American people safe. Yet it still has to function with the Administration in power. It's a balancing act.

McCabe talks about his first FBI jobs working against the Russian mafia. He also thinks like I do that we missed an opportunity to help Russia after communism. The push for democracy and free-market capitalism ignored the fact that such a change is not easy. Freedom breeds craziness. Just take a look around you. We wanted that so badly we did not fight organized Russian crime more. We end up with Putin and later Trump.

To find organized crime, surveillance is needed. We have provided too much protection for US citizens because of past abuses. Now online, we do the same. And the proliferation of assault weapons does not help. Russian crime also included sexual slavery by bringing Russian women over here to be used by crime figures. Even Russian hockey players were being extorted back in Russia.

Just to give you an idea of the Trump connection. Here is a story. Alimzhan Tokhtakounov was in an Italian jail thanks to a joint effort. A Russian oligarch pledged 200 MILLION DOLLARS to get him out of jail. Next thing, the Italian Supreme Court releases him. Several months he is seen at Donald Trump's Miss Universe contest in Moscow. And you can bet the Russian mafia and spies were all over, around, and through the Donald.

In the 60s, attention was turned to racketeering with AG Robert Kennedy and Senator John McClellan. You cannot give enough credit to the courage it takes to do that. Then came the Organized Crime Control Act in 1970 with the provision known as RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations). The important need was to protect informants. With Trump, he demanded informants be identified.

For 9/11, the FBI and other agencies could have seen it coming. That means we have to prevent it in the future. Perhaps the distraction let us forget about homegrown terrorists. We are paying the price for that as I write this. Every holiday now brought dread for agents in counter terrorism.

McCabe shares stories about previous attorneys general, but when he gets to Jeff Sessions, we once again see how awful Trump's cabinet picks were. Very few of them seem able to focus or to show even a small amount of intelligence. Sessions only seemed to care about immigration. He wanted to know where everyone came from or where their parents came from.

Briefings for the President are the truly scary scenes. He consistently sided with the Russians. Listen to this: North Korea conducted an intercontinental ballistic missile test. Such a weapon could reach the United States. The president thought it was a hoax. He said he knew this because Vladimir Putin told him so. Donald Trump actually believed Putin over US intelligence. Did he really think we could not spot a missile test? What else was Putin telling him? Trump made an effort to have no record of any calls to Putin.

After Snowden, suspicion was cast on all "lawful surveillance efforts." I am totally with McCabe on this one. And where is Snowden now? Hiding in Putin's Russia? Hard for me to admire a man like that.

After Snowden, suddenly tech companies were worried about "privacy." They became "defenders of liberty." Bullshit. Cooperation with the FBI became a thing of the past. I find it hard to believe it had anything but money as a motive. The old bottom line. Crimes can be covered up as long as we profit off it.

ISIS suddenly became masterful at production values for jihadist videos. Is that free speech? They created videos for everyone. Beautiful videos about the wonderful lifestyle for some. Horrible snuff films for the unstable loners. Again, free speech?

An American couple inspired by ISIS killed 14 and injured 22 in San Bernadino. Tim Cook was shocked, absolutely shocked, that the FBI would want to hack into the killers' phones. Here is what Cook said, "The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine decades of security advancements that protect our customers." I mean, the nerve of the FBI! The absolute nerve of them! Fascist pigs! Maybe someone can explain that one to me.

There needs to be a balance between privacy and security. There is no such thing as total free speech and no such thing as total privacy. Both can be deadly. Let's debate it as adults. And let's make clear and intelligent laws.

The focus in Congress was Benghazi. The immortal Trey Gowdy milked it for all it was worth. The only purpose was to cause trouble for Hillary Clinton. It lasted four years. ISIS was posting videos about beheadings and Gowdy wanted more info about Hillary.

His wife Jill made a great case for expanding Medicaid: "I'm faced with patients every day who are struggling because they don't have that access. If Medicaid were expanded, more patients could seek primary care, the emergency would not be so crowded, and children would be healthier. They'd be on medication to manage their asthma. They would have good preventive care. They would get their immunizations. They would address their obesity. All of the epidemics that are coming along, primary care wants to try to address that. But if they don't have access, how are they going to get that taken care of?"

Sadly, the opposition to Medicaid comes from the so-called "conservatives" who go to the wall for fetuses.

Presidents should never interfere with investigations or prosecutions. Trump does it constantly and publicly. He has created a new norm. There is bound to be someone else like him who will do it again. And he is still doing it. He pardoned Paul Manafort, one of the nation's biggest traitors.

I remember a time when Richard Nixon called Charles Manson "guilty." Of course he was, but it is wrong for a president to interfere. Everyone complained. Now the Republican party remains silent. What is "conservative" about that?

Trump calls McCabe on an unsecured phone. Comey has been tweet fired and Trump thinks the FBI is celebrating. The total opposite happened. It shattered morale. Trump complains about Comey getting a secure flight back from California. There is no decency in Trump at all.

When they meet, Trump says 80% of the FBI voted for him, something no one can possibly know. Later he will say it was 90%. What a narcissistic creep. He even asked McCabe who he voted for.

He calls McCabe's wife a "loser" because she lost her election, something Trump cannot stand. We are seeing the results of that as I write this.

Trump would meet in private with the Russian ambassador and foreign minister in the White House. No American press or other Americans. He gave away classified information. Who knows what else.

Trump suggests John Kelly run both the FBI and DHS. An impossible task. But it fits into his idea of controlling everyone and destroying the government.

McCabe will finally tell Trump he did not vote in 2016 thinking it would be inappropriate. That was his death knell.

Trump accuses McCabe's wife in a tweet of taking $700,000 from Hillary with no proof at all.

McCabe gets fired with 26 hours left to go before he earns his retirement benefits. He is accused by Trump of knowing "all about the lies and corruption going on at the highest levels of the FBI."

McCabe calls Trump "the most prolific liar I have ever encountered."

He says Trump "does not know what democracy means" and "has no understanding or appreciation of our form of government." And "He takes no action to protect it." Trump even wanted people to investigate the people who were investigating him.

McCabe filed suit about his termination. I do not know the results.

McCabe respects the thousands of people in government who devote their lives to the work of the United States of America. As do I. That should not be destroyed.