In Deep Lib/E: The Fbi, the Cia, and the Truth about America's Deep State

A Pulitzer Prizewinning journalists investigation of the deep state. Three-quarters of Americans believe that a group of unelected government and military officials secretly manipulate or direct national policy in the United States. President Trump blames the deep state for his impeachment. But what is the American deep state and does it really exist? To conservatives, the deep state is an ever-growing government bureaucracy, an administrative state that they think relentlessly encroaches on the individual rights of Americans. Liberals fear the military-industrial complexa cabal of generals and defense contractors who they believe routinely push the country into endless wars. Every modern American president from Carter to Trump has engaged in power struggles with Congress, the CIA, and the FBI. Every CIA and FBI director has suspected White House aides or members of Congress of leaking secrets for political gain. Frustrated Americans increasingly distrust the politicians, unelected officials, and journalists who they feel set the countrys political agenda. American democracy faces its biggest crisis of legitimacy in a half century. This sweeping exploration examines the CIA and FBI scandals of the past fifty yearsfrom the Church Committees exposure of Cold War abuses, to the Iran-Contra affair, to false intelligence about Iraqs weapons of mass destruction, to NSA mass surveillance revealed by Edward Snowden. It then investigates the claims and counterclaims of the Trump era, and the relentless spread of conspiracy theories online and on-air. While Trump says he is the victim of the deep state, Rohde argues the president and his allies are creating a de facto deep state of their own that operates outside official government channels and smears rivals, both real and perceived. The feverish debate over the deep state raises core questions about the future of American democracy. Is it possible for career government officials to be politically neutral? Have the FBI, CIA, and other intelligence agencies grown too powerful? Are politicians spreading deep state conspiracy theories for their own political gain? How vast should the power of a president be? Based on dozens of interviews with career CIA operatives and FBI agents, In Deep answers the question of whether the nations intelligence agencies and its politicians are abusing or protecting the publics trust.

About the Author :
David Rohde is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the author of In Deep and 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 reporter for the New York Times, Reuters, and Christian Science Monitor. Graham Winton is a television, film, and voice actor who has won the Audie Award for Best Narration. He has appeared on such television shows as Blue Bloods, Law & Order, All My Children, and As the World Turns.

Review :

"Revelatory....A vital investigation for this election year--and far beyond."

"Rohde examines Donald Trump's contention that there is a deep state trying to undermine his presidency, offering a history of the conspiracy theory and concluding that, despite the presence of an 'institutional government' made up of career civil servants, there is no such thing."

"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 informative account."

"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."