Holding the Line

Inside the Nation's Preeminent US Attorney's Office and Its Battle with the Trump Justice Department

By: Geoffrey Berman

Narrated by: Geoffrey Berman

Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

"Throughout my tenure as US attorney, Trump's Justice Department kept demanding that I use my office to aid them politically, and I kept declining - in ways just tactful enough to keep me from being fired. I walked this tightrope for two and a half years. Eventually, the rope snapped." - from Holding the Line

"A cautionary tale about how political forces can undermine the quest for justice." - Barbara McQuade, The Washington Post

The gripping and explosive memoir of serving as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in the face of the Justice Department’s attempts to protect Trump’s friends and punish his enemies.

Ascending to the leadership role of US Attorney for the Southern District, which includes Manhattan and several counties to the north, is a capstone to any legal career: it entails guiding a team of the best lawyers in America in selecting and winning cases that often have global import. Geoffrey Berman was honored to be tapped for the job by Donald Trump in 2018. The manner in which Trump had dispatched his predecessor Preet Bharara was troubling, but the institution was fabled for its independence. Surely he could manage.

So began one of the most tumultuous two-and-a-half-year stretches in the over two-hundred-thirty year history of the office. Almost immediately, Berman found himself pushing back against the Trump Justice Department’s blatant efforts to bring weak cases against political foes and squash worthy cases that threatened to tarnish allies and Trump himself. When Bill Barr became attorney general, Berman hoped and believed things would get better, but instead they got much worse. The heart of Holding the Line is his never-before-told account of the lengths Barr went to in corrupting the independence of the office, and the lengths Berman had to go in preserving it. Finally, Trump and Barr, fed up with Berman’s principles, summarily fired him, though he refused to go quietly and prevented Barr from installing someone who might be more compliant. Berman’s determined defense of the values of prosecutorial independence, without fear or favor, made him a hero to everyone who shares those values.

Holding the Line also relates the remarkable casework of the Southern District in Berman’s time there, including taking down notorious sex traffickers Jeffrey Epstein and Lawrence Ray, Big Pharma executives, and vicious criminal syndicates, and repatriating Nazi-looted art. Riveting in themselves, these stories showcase the esprit de corps that makes the Southern District so special, and the stakes Berman felt in protecting its integrity against all foes, up to and including the US attorney general and the president of the United States.

©2022 Geoffrey Berman (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"A cautionary tale about how political forces can undermine the quest for justice." (Barbara McQuade, The Washington Post)

"A terrifying book...The Justice Department needs to contend with Berman’s record of what happened to him in a much more serious way than they have, because that happened inside the Justice Department in a way that should never happen again and is likely to happen again now that we know that Trump was able to get away with it with no consequences. (Rachel Maddow, The Ezra Klein Show)

Historically significant and a great read

Holding The Line was a really insightful and clearly written book about the SDNY during the term of Geoffrey Berman's tenure as the head of that office. He did an excellent job of narrating his own book and I found his style fair, reasonable and honest. I appreciated not only his observations of others, I also appreciated his own critiques of himself. No person gets everything right and his plain talk and honesty in presentation left me impressed. I also felt like I learned a great deal about the SDNY and am glad I took the time to learn more about how justice is supposed to work. Thank you for such an interesting and informative read.

An important record

Herman’s version of events dealing with Trump and Barr attempting to manipulate justice. Important as history. Important as a cautionary tale.

Exceptional read by a person of integrity/courage.

I am moved and inspired by this book and the authors courage an commitment to rule of law. I know the story to be accurate because I remember all of it played out in real time. Bill Barr and his ilk are the ruination of the justice in the USA and he should be disbarred and put in jail with Trump. Same cell.
Thank you Mr Berman.

Better than fiction when its based on reality

I loved the book. It was a fascinating narrative regarding some of the interesting cases brought before the Southern District including Epsten.
the most memorable is regarding the pharmaceutical industry and how the kick backs played into the scheme.

Highly Recommend

Learned so much. Hearing the author read his own work made it that much more interesting. Highly recommend if you are not afraid of the truth.

Democracy Defended

You will learn a lot by listening to this book. Most of all, I thank Mr. Berman for the short time he capably defended our Democracy! May many more defenders stay strong!

Great to hear this directly from the author

These were a series of well told stories. I never got bored and I am not trained in law.
It was great to hear about people in positions of power that resisted the corruption of the Trump Administration. This book helps to restore faith in our institutions which is critical to maintaining a stable democracy.

Who Knew???

I couldn’t put this book down. The variety of cases under the SDNY are more widespread than I ever thought. Can’t say I’m surprised about the politics but it’s good to know we still have decent, honest people in these important positions. Great book and thank you Mr Berman for educating the public.

Interesting stuff

I am enjoying hearing a calm and balanced accounting of things hidden from the public. The behind the scenes view was enlightening in terms of not only the events of an unprecedented time in US history, but even just in terms of how the inner workings of the justice Department is structured and what procedural processes are in place.

So Many Trump Scandals

Enough evidence exists in this book to put former Attorney General William Barr in prison for doing Trump’s dirty work for the rest of his life. We have an accounting of some of the corruption of his four years of malfeasance, but we may never see him on trial beyond his two impeachment.

It happened here and our Constitution and our democracy is gone. I remember Watergate and the Nixon years. The Trump years showed you could lie and Fox News would help Republicans get away with it. Rome has fallen.