In Deep

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

By: David Rohde

Narrated by: Graham Winton

A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist's 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 relentlessly encroaches on the individual rights of Americans. Liberals fear the "military-industrial complex" - a 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 of members of Congress of leaking secrets for political gain. Frustrated Americans increasingly distrust the politicians, unelected officials, and journalists who they believe unilaterally set the country's 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 50 years - from the Church Committee's exposure of Cold War abuses, to Abscam, to false intelligence about Iraq's 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", Democrats accuse the president and his allies of running 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? Was Congress' impeachment of Donald Trump conducted properly? How vast should the power of a president be? Based on dozens of interviews with career CIA operatives and FBI agents, In Deep answers whether the FBI, CIA, or politicians are protecting or abusing the public's trust.

©2020 David Rohde (P)2020 Recorded Books

Really Solid Book

In a world seemingly obsessed with the "convenient truth", the Author does a great job of using hard facts to explain how we arrived at the current political climate.

Good read

Good knowledge to have, the book seamed to get off topic a few times. Then, back on track. Not as much on the subject as I would have thought.

Epilog is wishful thinking

While the overall book was good and interesting, listening to it AFTER the recent 2024 US general election makes the conclusions laughable and reality horrifying.

Very informative and well supported

David Rhode provides a very completion detail of the facts concnering the issue cited. Its attention and accuracy is well noted in explaining both sides of the matter clearly

Great book and an excellent narrator

I thought this was an excellent book and the narrator was also very good. I would recommend it to anyone intrested in recent political and Diplomatic history.

loved it.

thanks for writing it! very digestible. surprising to me i lived through that news. :)

Remarkable history identifying patterns of abuse.

Well done investigation of Presidential failings of honestly, and patterns of abuse of power by governing people.

very good book, balanced with reading either party

Excellent, thought provoking whatever your politics. a call to action to review the play mistakes and understand current risks to us all.

A must read

Excellent. Ranges from the Church Committee reforms in 1975 to the excesses of Trump. Well done balanced analysis

Nice job

The author and the narrator cut through the subject of this book like a warm knife into butter.

The first part of written and narrated seamlessly.

Definitely a must read.