Holding the Line

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

De: Geoffrey Berman

Narrado por: Geoffrey Berman

"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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"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

“With the storytelling skills of a trial lawyer . . . Berman’s book provides a cautionary tale about how political forces can undermine the quest for justice.” —The Washington Post

“A memoir whose every page touches still-fresh headlines…This book stands not just as a compelling look at how justice works, but also as a fine specimen of sweet revenge. An instructive, highly readable account of the law, its protectors, and its enemies.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Smart and crisp . . . Think of Berman as the honey badger–if the honey badger headed up a white-collar practice at a Wall Street law firm. He doesn’t give a fig. He holds the receipts . . . From the looks of things, Geoffrey Berman is having the last laugh.” —The Guardian

"If Mr. Berman’s account is true, he and others in the department deserve praise for refusing to bow to political pressure. But more important is determining whether there are vulnerabilities in the Justice Department’s structure and procedures that need to be patched...The warning he sounds — about the fragility of justice and the danger that a second Trump presidency might pose — must not go unnoticed." —The Washington Post

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.

Thank you Mr. Berman!

This is one of the best and most important books I have read in decades. It ranks up there with Woodward and Bernstein’s book revealing the political machinations of the Nixon Administration. Thank you for standing up to Bully Barr and Donald Thug.

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.