In Deep

Starred review from April 6, 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.