On The Threat

As a relatively casual observer of law enforcement I kind of expected this book to be an anti-Trump screed.  It's not.  Andrew McCabe rather dispassionately describes his encounters with the 45th President, as any reporting FBI Agent might, and there are no new or shocking revelations of what happened that led to his firing a mere 26 hours before he could retire with his full slate of benefits intact.  He mostly corroborates other accounts, adding only minor details about the precise sequence of events and whom told whom when.

Having said that, I have to tell you, this is a hell of a page turner.  Mr McCabe is a good expository writer, he has been involved with a lot of really interesting cases, and quite obviously he so thoroughly vetted his choice of material that he was able to tell every last detail of the cases he choose to write about.

McCabe quite meticulously explains the step-by-step process of how a simple phone-call to your local FBI office can turn into an investigation, then into a case, then into a prosecution and finally end up with prison time for bad guys.  It is quite reassuring to see that it is a system that is quite resistant to abuse, nothing gets done without a number of people green-lighting it, even if very quickly.

In other words, breaking news, President Trump's witch hunt conspiracy is utter nonsense.  It literally couldn't happen.

Because of the period during which he served in the FBI (1996-2018) he knew Robert Mueller quite well, and worked with him closely.  I think he is aware that readers like myself are highly curious, because he offers a lot of insight into what Mueller is like, how he organizes his work, and the high degree to which he is thorough and complete.

He confirms that Mueller's first love is investigation and prosecution of homicides, and without explicitly declaring this, his discussions of Mueller make it plain that no one should expect that Robert Mueller would indulge in any kind of perversion of law enforcement for any political ends, whether left or right.  It's not that he's so pure, it's just not where he lives professionally.  He likes to go after murderers as a G-man, film noir style.

The book is equally fascinating for the insight into Rod Rosenstein's role in the firing of Jim Comey, the highly uncertain few days between that and the appointment of the Special Counsel, and it offers the comfort of the honest deliberations behind the scenes about the decision, as well as giving a complete and fair hearing to arguments for and against it. 

Rosenstein is a sympathetic, if flawed, figure in this book.  It offers somewhat of a fresh take on his situation in that sense.  He neither idealizes not demonizes Rosenstein.  He rather explains what happened in a way to reveal why the decisions were made, even if one might reasonably think they were wrong.

I was disappointed when I came to the end of the book.  Not because of its content, but because it was over.  That's a good book, and a real rarity for non-fictional memoir.  I learned quite a lot about how the FBI actually works, how investigations happen, etc.  I grew accustomed to reading it, I missed it when it was finished.