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.