On March 16, 2018, just twenty-six hours before his scheduled retirement
from the organization he had served with distinction for more than two
decades, Andrew G. McCabe was fired from his position as deputy director of
the FBI. President Donald Trump celebrated on Twitter: Andrew McCabe
FIRED, a great day for the hard working men and women of the FBI - A great
day for Democracy. In The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age
of Terror and Trump, Andrew G. McCabe offers a dramatic and candid account
of his career, and an impassioned defense of the FBI's agents, and of the
institution's integrity and independence in protecting America and
upholding our Constitution. McCabe started as a street agent in the FBI's
New York field office, serving under director Louis Freeh. He became an
expert in two kinds of investigations that are critical to American
national security: Russian organized crime—which is inextricably linked to
the Russian state—and terrorism. Under Director Robert Mueller, McCabe led
the investigations of major attacks on American soil, including the Boston
Marathon bombing, a plot to bomb the New York subways, and several narrowly
averted bombings of aircraft. And under James Comey, McCabe was deeply
involved in the controversial investigations of the Benghazi attack, the
Clinton Foundation's activities, and Hillary Clinton's use of a private
email server when she was secretary of state. The Threat recounts in
compelling detail the time between Donald Trump's November 2016 election
and McCabe's firing, set against a page-turning narrative spanning two
decades when the FBI's mission shifted to a new goal: preventing terrorist
attacks on Americans. But as McCabe shows, right now the greatest threat to
the United States comes from within, as President Trump and his
administration ignore the law, attack democratic institutions, degrade
human rights, and undermine the U.S. Constitution that protects every
citizen. Important, revealing, and powerfully argued, The Threat tells the
true story of what the FBI is, how it works, and why it will endure as an
institution of integrity that protects America.