The Disrupt, Discredit, And Divide: How the New FBI Damages Our Democracy
By (Author) Michael German
The New Press
The New Press
2nd January 2020
United Kingdom
General
Non Fiction
363.250973
Hardback
352
Width 152mm, Height 228mm
Platform: Mike German is a known commentator on cable television, having appeared on all major network and cable news channels as well as PBS Frontline, NPR, Democracy Now!, and C-Span.
OpEds: German will weigh in regularly on FBI-related issues. He has writtenfor the Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Herald, The Guardian, Lawfare<>, the Miami Herald, and Daily Kos
Impeccable Credentials: German was in the FBI for sixteen years, working as an undercover agent specializing in white supremacist groups. He is an expert on the internal culture of the FBI, especially in relation to its treatment of minority employees, as well as the FBI and its relationship to the US Constitution.
Speaking: German regularly appears before Congressional committees about the FBI and takes part in panels on issues of law enforcement.
FBI in the news: As Robert Mueller and Donald Trump go head-to-head, Mike German is uniquely qualified to read the tea leaves for us and tell us whats happening at the nations key intelligence agency.
Affiliations: ACLU and the Brennan Center will help support the book. Brennan will host a launch event with Bookspan coverage.
Praise for Disrupt, Discredit, Divide:
"German's book is ultimately a powerful argument against idealizing the F.B.I. and overlooking its troubling record for the sake of short-term political convenience."
Rosa Brooks, The New York Times Book Review
"The real story in Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide is German's methodical and damning account of a powerful American institution chronically failing to live up to its mission. The book comes at a critical moment."
The Intercept
"A well-documented expos explaining how 9/11 transformed the FBI. . . . Important reading for our current time, especially as the Mueller Report continues to circulate."
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Former FBI special agent German's impassioned polemic raises the alarm about the negative impact of the FBI's evolution from a crime fighting organization into a domestic intelligence agency. . . . German's experiences as an undercover agent provide a unique insight into . . . [and raise] some valuable questions about the primary role of this key government agency."
Publishers Weekly
"Mike German's critical insight into the initiatives taken up by the FBI in the aftermath of 9/11 is akin to none. His reputable expertise has time and time again provided my office with insight not only as a witness testifying before Congress, but also from an advisory position on legislative initiatives. Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide is the truth we need."
Representative Karen Bass (CA-37), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus
"Few institutions have shaped recent American history as fundamentally as the FBI. As this fascinating and urgent book confirms, no one is more qualified than Mike German to tell this history and help us learn from it."
Jameel Jaffer, director, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, and editor of The Drone Memos: Targeted Killing, Secrecy, and the Law
"Mike German is an amazing storyteller and writer who can make complex and intricate issues seem suddenly clear and comprehensible whilst losing none of their nuance. He is also a deeply principled man, [someone] whose ability to reflect on the actions of the agency he was a part of, as well as catching and stopping actual criminals, makes his a compelling voice in this ominous moment of resurgent white nationalism."
Daniel Radcliffe, actor, Imperium (story by Mike German and Daniel Ragussis)
"Mike German served as an FBI agent who carried out dangerous assignments infiltrating violent white nationalist organizations. Now, having resigned, he tells how the bureau has downgraded such efforts. An absorbing and interesting read and a useful warning."
Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr., author of Democracy in the Dark and chief counsel of the Church Committee
"Ex-FBI agent Mike German's excellent new book offers an exhaustively researched, definitive account of the current state of the country's preeminent law enforcement agency."
Norm Stamper, former Seattle police chief and author of Breaking Rank and To Protect and Serve
Mike German is a fellow with the Liberty and National Security program at the Brennan Center for Justice. He has worked at the ACLU and served sixteen years as an FBI Special Agent. He is the author of Thinking Like a Terrorist.