Barbara McQuade
Barbara McQuade is the author of “Attack from Within,” a New York Times bestseller that offers a penetrating analysis of the damage that disinformation, misinformation, and deliberate falsehoods have inflicted on America’s fragile democracy. Drawing on extensive research, legal expertise, and a disciplined analytical mind, McQuade explains how these campaigns have weakened public safety, eroded respect for the rule of law, and threatened national security. She argues that many of the tactics now used to manipulate public opinion mirror sophisticated methods first refined by the Soviet KGB and later employed by its successor, the FSB. The tactics in the authoritarian playbook she describes include appealing to emotion over reason, exploiting divisions, undermining critics, dismantling public institutions, stoking violence, and creating an image of the Great Leader as both an everyman and a superman.
McQuade wrote the book to help ordinary citizens understand the forces destabilizing democratic institutions. Earlier in her career, she earned distinction as a highly successful federal prosecutor, and that skill is evident throughout the book. She presents complex material with clarity and builds her case with the precision of an accomplished trial lawyer.
Now a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, McQuade considers herself fortunate to spend time with students while teaching criminal law and national security. She believes deeply in preparing the next generation of lawyers who will protect national security and prosecute public corruption.
McQuade has said that the Watergate hearings inspired her to become a lawyer. “I was a young child when it was going on,” she recalled, “and Nixon’s betrayal of the trust of the American people was very disappointing to me. But it was also amazing to me to see reporters take down a president, and that gave me a sense of the importance of the role of gatekeepers in society who protect our democratic institutions.”
Consistent with that belief, McQuade is also a co-host of the widely respected political and legal podcast #SistersInLaw, alongside Joyce Vance, Jill Wine-Banks, and Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Launched shortly after January 6, 2021, the podcast quickly became one of the country’s most trusted sources of legal analysis. Listeners describe the show as both intellectually rigorous and emotionally grounding during chaotic political times.
“I’m an optimist about the future, but with an asterisk. Humans have the power to solve problems created by humans. We have solved incredible problems before. We've overcome a civil war, what could be more divisive than that? So, I think we can do it, but it's not just going to happen. We need to elect leaders who do have a vision of unity and bringing people together. And that's on us.”
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN – JULY 13, 2024