Deep State

Trump, the FBI, and the Rule of Law

By: James B. Stewart

Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka

The New York Times bestseller from the award-winning author of Den of Thieves and Unscripted.

"Important and stunning. This is must-read material if you want to understand what the Trump administration is still up to right now." (Lawrence O'Donnell)

There are questions that the Mueller report couldn't—or wouldn't—answer. What actually happened to instigate the Russia investigation? Did President Trump’s meddling incriminate him? There’s no mystery to what Trump thinks. He claims that the Deep State, a cabal of career bureaucrats—among them, Andrew McCabe, Lisa Page, and Peter Strzok, previously little-known figures within the FBI whom he has obsessively and publicly reviled—is concerned only with protecting its own power and undermining the democratic process. Conversely, James Comey has defended the FBI as incorruptible apolitical public servants who work tirelessly to uphold the rule of law.

For the first time, best-selling author James B. Stewart sifts these conflicting accounts to present a clear-eyed view of what exactly happened inside the FBI in the lead-up to the 2016 election, drawing on scores of interviews with key FBI, Department of Justice, and White House officials and voluminous transcripts, notes, and internal reports. In full detail, this is the dramatic saga of the FBI’s simultaneous investigations of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump—the first time in American history the FBI has been thrust into the middle of both parties' campaigns for the presidency. Stewart shows what exactly was set in motion when Trump fired Comey, triggering the appointment of Robert Mueller as an independent special counsel and causing the FBI to open a formal investigation into the president himself. And how this unprecedented event joined in ongoing combat two vital institutions of American democracy: the presidency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

At stake in this epic battle is the rule of law itself, the foundation of the US Constitution. There is no room for compromise, but plenty for collateral damage. The reputations of both sides have already been harmed, perhaps irrevocably, and at great cost to American democracy. Deep State goes beyond the limits of the legally constrained Mueller report, showing how the president’s obsession with the idea of a conspiracy against him is still upending lives and sending shock waves through both the FBI and the Department of Justice. In this world-historical struggle—Trump versus intelligence agencies—Stewart shows us in rare style what’s real and what matters now. And for the looming 2020 election.

©2019 James B. Stewart (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“One of the best reporters of his generation . . . a gifted storyteller and thorough reporter.”—New York Review of Books

“A first draft of history that reminds us just how bizarre these times really are. A New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, Stewart has assembled a gripping blow-by-blow account of President Trump’s years-long showdown with the FBI—from the first inklings of something about an email server through the release of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report on Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election . . . Encountering it all smashed between the pages of a single book is a new experience, less the stop-start jerkiness of a tweetstorm than the slow-build dread of a dramatic tragedy . . . . The events recounted in 'Deep State' help explain how we ended up at our latest impasse and how Trump is likely to react as it unfolds. What makes the book more than a recitation of unseemly facts is its well-rendered human drama.”—The Washington Post

Worth a Listen, Good Research

Facts leading up to and beyond the Russian hack. Delicate decision before election to speak of Anthony Weiner, who may also have caused the election to be tilted. 'House of Putin, House of Trump' is a good listen also.

Good, must read

This was a very good, thorough account of the subject surrounding the FBI's involvment into the Trump campaign and white house. I think this is a "must read" for any civic minded person today. I will only say that it was a little difficult to follow all the threads and timelines. You can blame the listener for that, but the listener took one star off the story because of it. It may have been better in written form, where timelines and organization charts could be presented, but I may not have gotten through the subject matter without it being read to me. In the end I found it very good, despite my own personal struggles.

Unbelievable bias.

To say this work is written with bias is an understatement. It sounds like he’s reading all the excuses the bad actor used to manipulate public opinion. The majority of the facts herein have been fully proven false long before the IG report was delivered. Reading one book which has not had any facts disproven (Spygate) will help.

Deep means profound, expert, knowledgeable,wise

Public service is not for everyone. It is for people who have the expertise and enough money not to have to worry about it (or think about how to use their position to make more of it) while they serve the American people. This book begins with conversations between Robert Mueller and James Comet that clarify very precisely the meaning of deep state and why it's the highest form of compliment, not the lowest form of insult.It

Ignore the trolls, read this book, and see your way back to sanity, please!

A Great Review

If you have read other books about Trump and the FBI such as James Comey’s book, none of the information in this book will be a new to you. If you have not read or kept up with the news, this will be a good summary of what has happened.

The book is well written and researched. It covers the period from Comey’s investigation of Hilary Clinton’s emails to Bill Barr’s handling the Mueller Report. The book does cover more information about various people in the FBI after Comey was fired than other books. The Term “Deep State” is a name made up by the “Alt-Right”. It is a prejudicial misnomer for the thousands of federal government employees.

The book is twelve hours and one minute. Keith Szarabajka does a good job narrating the book. Keith is an actor and video game actor as well as an audiobook narrator.

The full unvarnished story of the good, the bad and the ugly

A comprehensive telling of the story of which we political junkies are aware. For the unaware, it it is a compendium objectively presented with the deftness of a novelist.
It shows how easy it is for those without a hardcore moral center to be swayed into remaking the world as they think it should be—- for whatever reason

Excellent serious assessment of this critical time

Very well written and easy to follow description of events as they unfolded and what one should understand about what was done. Another book everyone who cares about justice should read.

Politics explained

A believable (hopefully “accurate “) description of events during Trumps administration.
For me it put many of the names I’ve heard about during the last years, in position.
Who did/said what.
True, it is a one sided telling of events, but if even a fraction of the story is true, it is terrifying.
If this is Politics As Usual, I have been blissfully unaware until now.

Thoughtful and a fast listen

Although I have listened to A Higher Loyalty and The Threat, both excellent, I enjoyed revisiting and hearing another perspective on, and additional, details. Keith's narration is superb, he even makes me laugh at his impersonations. I sincerely hope that the embarrassment many of us feel over our top officials will be over in 2021 and we can once again take pride in our government and those who run our country. It seems surreal to be living this 4-year nightmare and is hard to believe it is still going on. How can the greatest nation on earth be run by intimidation, bullying, vengefulness and vulgarity? What a disgusting example this sets for our children. How does the inner circle look in the mirror each night and feel OK with supporting such behavior? Thank you, James Stewart, for writing this. Good job.

Not what I expected...

Was thinking this would be a book on the Deep State... It was more of a Trump bashing book, in my opinion.