Appearing on NBC’s Today show on Monday, New York Times columnist James B. Stewart hawked his new book, Deep State, by hailing bureaucrats undermining the Trump administration as noble public servants “protecting the Constitution” and the American people from the President. He denounced any criticism of the “deep state” as “very dangerous.”
“The disclosure of a second whistleblower with firsthand knowledge of President Trump’s phone call with the leader of Ukraine has led to new accusations by the President that the so-called ‘deep state’ is seeking to undermine his presidency,” co-host Savannah Guthrie declared as she introduced Stewart. She then asked her guest: “And his central allegation is that there are people inside these government agencies actively working against him. What did you find?”
Stewart admitted: “Well, you meet these characters in my book, and the fact is, in a sense, he’s right. There is a deep state...” However, the author quickly praised the clique of anti-Trump government officials: “...there is a bureaucracy in our country who has pledged to respect the Constitution, respect the rule of law.”
He specifically touted how ex-FBI Director James Comey “told me in my book, ‘Thank goodness for that,’ because they are protecting the Constitution and the people when individuals – we don’t have a monarch, we don’t have a dictator – they restrain them from crossing the boundaries of law.”
After Guthrie worried that “The ‘deep state’ is now a pejorative term,” Stewart reassured her: “What Trump calls the deep state in the United States is protecting the American people and protecting the Constitution. It’s a positive thing in this sense.”
The morning show anchor lamented how “Republicans were the party of law enforcement” but that “just yesterday on Meet the Press you had Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican, saying he doesn’t really trust the FBI, he doesn’t trust the CIA, now he named in particular, individuals, McCabe, Comey, those folks.” Completely ignoring the dishonesty and mismanagement of both of McCabe and Comey, she fretted: “But what do you think about this larger development that there’s questioning of these very institutions, what does that mean for those institutions?”
Senator Johnson also called out Chuck Todd’s blatant liberal bias in that appearance, but Guthrie didn’t bother to mention that part.
Stewart predictably rushed to the defense of the fired FBI officials: “Well, it’s historically unprecedented and it’s very dangerous. The reason they’re being attacked is the Justice Department and the FBI are independent.” He further wailed: “And for them to be branded, as Trump has, as traitors, to alienate them, has struck terror into many of these people. Many of the people I have talked to, they’re terrified. They’ve been branded as traitors, the penalty for traitors is the death penalty.”
Of course if the media really thought labeling people treasonous was “dangerous,” reporters wouldn’t have constantly accused President Trump being a traitor.
Stewart continued to bemoan Trump’s deep state criticism:
Well, morale has been devastated. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve been inside there, it is terrible. These are people who don’t make a whole lot of money but they dedicated themselves to public service, and they were treated like local heroes. Now, there’s a huge faction of the population that thinks they’re the enemy of the people, that they’re traitors, that they’re doing something sinister, that they’re conspiring against the White House. That is unfair, it’s untrue, but it has had a terrible toll on the people there....There’s a lot of damage, it’s gonna be lasting for many years.
He wrapped up the interview by pleading with 2020 voters: “But it’s something I hope the American people will take into consideration when they decide who to support. How important the rule of law is to this country and who is going to be able to restore the integrity of these institutions.”
Perhaps the best way to maintain the integrity of vital agencies like the FBI and CIA would be for anonymous members of those organizations to focus on protecting the nation rather than trying to undo the election of someone they disagree with politically.
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Here is a full transcript of the October 7 segment:
8:43 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Welcome back, the disclosure of a second whistleblower with firsthand knowledge of President Trump’s phone call with the leader of Ukraine has led to new accusations by the President that the so-called “deep state” is seeking to undermine his presidency. It’s a charge he’s leveled against the intelligence community and the FBI since he first took office and one that James B. Stewart investigated for his new book, Deep State: Trump, The FBI, and The Rule of Law. James, good morning, it’s good to have you here.
JAMES B. STEWART: Good morning, thank you.
GUTHRIE: It’s interesting that you really tackle this issue because “deep state” is one of these phrases that really wasn’t in our political lexicon until a few years ago with President Trump. And his central allegation is that there are people inside these government agencies actively working against him. What did you find?
STEWART: Well, you meet these characters in my book, and the fact is, in a sense, he’s right. There is a deep state, there is a bureaucracy in our country who has pledged to respect the Constitution, respect the rule of law. They do not work for the President, they work for the American people. And as Comey told me in my book, “Thank goodness for that,” because they are protecting the Constitution and the people when individuals – we don’t have a monarch, we don’t have a dictator – they restrain them from crossing the boundaries of law.
GUTHRIE: The “deep state” is now a pejorative term. When someone is called “deep state,” they don’t mean that as a compliment.
STEWART: Well, it’s pejorative because of how it was treated in Turkey and Egypt, with a deep state of people who were protecting their own power. What Trump calls the deep state in the United States is protecting the American people and protecting the Constitution. It’s a positive thing in this sense.
GUTHRIE: You know what’s interesting, you know, and you’ve been around politics a long time, it always was assumed, fairly or unfairly, that Republicans were the party of law enforcement. And just yesterday on Meet the Press you had Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican, saying he doesn’t really trust the FBI, he doesn’t trust the CIA, now he named in particular, individuals, McCabe, Comey, those folks. But what do you think about this larger development that there’s questioning of these very institutions, what does that mean for those institutions?
STEWART: Well, it’s historically unprecedented and it’s very dangerous. The reason they’re being attacked is the Justice Department and the FBI are independent. For good reasons. They may be called upon to investigate, as they did, the White House. They do not answer to the President, even though he appoints them. And for them to be branded, as Trump has, as traitors, to alienate them, has struck terror into many of these people. Many of the people I have talked to, they’re terrified. They’ve been branded as traitors, the penalty for traitors is the death penalty.
GUTHRIE: What is the mood inside these – I mean, the intelligence agencies, the FBI, now that there are whole groups of people who look at them askance and they say, “Wait a minute, whose side are you on here?”
STEWART: Well, morale has been devastated. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve been inside there, it is terrible. These are people who don’t make a whole lot of money but they dedicated themselves to public service, and they were treated like local heroes. Now, there’s a huge faction of the population that thinks they’re the enemy of the people, that they’re traitors, that they’re doing something sinister, that they’re conspiring against the White House. That is unfair, it’s untrue, but it has had a terrible toll on the people there, and even more, people thinking about going there. What you’re getting are people, frankly, who are willing to be lackeys of the elected officials.
GUTHRIE: And how does this get resolved? I mean, is this one of those things where it bounces back after a period of years? Or is the damage lasting?
STEWART: There’s a lot of damage, it’s gonna be lasting for many years. But it’s something I hope the American people will take into consideration when they decide who to support. How important the rule of law is to this country and who is going to be able to restore the integrity of these institutions.
GUTHRIE: Well, it’s a fascinating read. The book is called Deep State. James B. Stewart, thank you, good to have you here.
STEWART: Thank you.
GUTHRIE: Appreciate it.
