Between the world of chaos and the world of order stands the rule of law. Every person in the United States, from a murderer to the president, is subject to the rule of law. This has been true since the founding of the country. Yet now the rule of law is under attack, including from the president himself. Organized criminal networks from other countries target the United States. Hackers steal our data, violate our privacy, and undermine our institutions. Terrorists target the innocent. Dirty money corrupts business and politics. Our own government officials use the power of public office to undermine legal authority and to denigrate law enforcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the principal law-enforcement agency in America. To uncover crime, and even to prevent it, the FBI combines shoe-leather investigation with modern intelligence gathering. The FBI’s official mission is “to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States.”
This book is one agent’s story—my own. My first days in the FBI were spent investigating organized crime that traced its origins to Russia, a place where no distinction between crime and government exists. More than twenty years later, my last days in the FBI were spent investigating the Russian government’s interference in our 2016 presidential election, possibly with the knowledge and involvement of that election’s winning candidate. In between, I took part in the ongoing fight against terrorist threats: plots to bomb airplanes, subways, the Boston Marathon.
The FBI has always been the nemesis of criminals. Today, the FBI is under attack by the president of the United States. The president assails the FBI because he resents or fears the Bureau’s independence, its fairness, its professionalism, its competence, and above all its values. This confrontation is part of my story, too.
—A.G.M.